


Open Season

by EOsman



Series: Tales From the Wasteland [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Action & Romance, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, CAPS, Character Death, Drug Addiction, Eventual Smut, F/F, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Institute gone, Major Character Injury, Nuka World, Original Character-centric, Relationship(s), Sex, Slavery, Tragic Character, Violence, World of Refreshment, a lot of drinking, chems, railroad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 19:01:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 87,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EOsman/pseuds/EOsman
Summary: The bogeyman is dead, buried beneath rubble and water.Bianca DeLuca finds herself alone and wandering the Commonwealth once again, this time in search of the humanity she's lost. Along with her reluctant new tag-along Cait, a violent ruffian with nothing much to lose, she finds herself stranded in new territory: a whole new world of refreshment, to be exact.And it's not quite the wasteland vacation one would expect.





	1. The Wanderer

**Author's Note:**

> It's not my first time posting to this site, but I'm still not used to the formatting, so please ignore any messed up paragraphs. Also, please disregard stupid spelling mistakes and grammatical errors because most of this story will be written while I am half-asleep in the early hours of the morning.
> 
> I didn't want to go into to much detail about either the drug abuse or the alcoholism in this story, but it will be mentioned consistently throughout (as I'm sure you're aware, drug-use is a very important aspect in the development of Cait's character). BONUS: if the story runs smoothly, I may add another book to the series which will involve a journey to Far Harbor with a different pairing - likely F!SS and Piper, just to let you know.
> 
> I'll be honest; I've never actually finished a fanfic before. I can't promise I'll finish this one. But I CAN promise that if I lose inspiration for this one (which I shouldn't, as I am a true Cait fan) then I'll make sure to round it off nicely and not leave you with the pain of a cliffhanger or an unexplored relationship.
> 
> Thanks for reading in advance, and I hope you enjoy the story!

16 YEARS PREVIOUSLY…

She ran away the first time because she’d thought she could no longer take it. It took less than ten minutes to pack a rucksack with her few belongings – a teddy bear, an old pocket watch she’d managed to fix, every bottlecap she’d looted from her parents over the space of seven months, a few cartons of water pumped from the lake’s ineffective water system, and mutfruit from the family farm. When she slung the straps over her shoulders, it hardly felt as if she was carrying anything at all. Surely, when you’re running away from something so colossal, there should be more of a baggage?

Cait left a few minutes after one o’clock in the morning, when the sky was a dense purple soup of darkness. She crept through the rows of stunted mutfruit, leaves brushing at her skin and leaving unsettling tingles everywhere they touched. She stopped once she’d climbed the chicken-wire fence, careful not to breathe in too heavily in case the night’s radiation caused more damage than usual. But she wanted to taste the freedom, feel its weight in her lungs, her bones, feel it sting against all the scars and bruises. Disappointingly (and as expected), it felt no different on this side of the fence than the other. The night was as thick and oily as always, and she was still the same worthless child she’d been only moments before. 

But Cait was no more welcome in her family’s home than she was in the Commonwealth; a ten-year-old with no particular ability or even intelligence. A tool that no one needed or had the capacity to use. 

She would take her chances out here.

The road was not an option, as Cait was at least smart enough to realize she’d be easily followed if her parents woke up and decided to come after her. So she rounded the lake instead, maintaining her distance from the water to avoid the bugs, namely mirelurks, which would bury themselves in the mud and surprise any unwary traveler. 

Soon enough, Cait had walked far enough that she could no longer see the farm, and no longer felt she had to look behind her to check her father wasn’t following. The weight she’d anticipated arrived in a rush, finally pressing down so hard on her shoulders and chest that she had to stop to breathe. For the first time in her life, she was completely alone. In the wilderness, with all the monsters her parents had teased they’d feed her to. She felt very small, even smaller than when her daddy would abuse her to prove her insignificance. 

Cait looked around her in the darkness, shivering, and saw the twisted stencils of dead trees; the half-buried husks of pre-war cars; scattered debris from the life before. Ahead of her and lit by the odd green glow of moonlight stabbing through radioactive mist was a single radstag, chewing on the brittle grass lavishly, both heads tearing at the strands of faded yellow with undisguised hunger. It wasn’t aware of her presence.

Maybe Cait didn’t exist. Maybe that would be for the best.

With a world-weary sigh, she unhooked the bag from her shoulders and made to check the pocket watch. It was then – of course – that she heard his voice:

“Caity-darlin’, where d’you think you’re goin’?”

Cait stood up straight, eyes searching back the way she’d come, breath coming out in short pants of horror. A raven squawked somewhere off to her left, and the Commonwealth carried on with its distant, overwhelming hum of noise. But above that, above all of it, was the heavy sound Cait feared most of all. Footsteps. And the cocking of what surely must be her daddy’s shotgun. 

She was too shocked, too frightened to run. As much as she would like to, she knew she could never do it fast enough to get away. The devil was here, and he had all the power in the world. 

Angrily, she wiped at the tear trembling on her cheek, sliding the bag onto her back again and standing, feet spread, facing her daddy as he approached. He was smiling, of course. Eyes glinting with red – the fires of hell, she was sure. And he was pointing the shotgun at her, finger tight against the trigger.

“Caity-darlin’,” he murmured again, stopping when he was nine, ten feet away. Gun still poised. 

Cait looked straight back, refusing to wipe away the rest of the hot tears, refusing to move at all. The least she could do was exercise her defiance. The wasteland around her was nothing compared to the Hell of her home. In comparison, it held hope and wonder. With her parents there was nothing.  


It was a harsh reality for a ten-year-old.

“Ya think there’s somethin’ out there for ya?” daddy asked, sneer as slick and oily as the lake’s water. “Yer a fockin’ ungrateful little shite, aren’t ya?”  


Still, Cait said nothing. 

“C’mere.”

Silently, steadily, Cait approached him until the gun was mere centimetres from her forehead, and she had nowhere else to look but down the sawn-off barrel. It smelled of gunpowder and grease. And daddy smelled of sweat and drunken power.

A flash of blinding agony, and then Cait had fallen to one knee, skull smarting from the smash of daddy’s shotgun. He laughed, though she wondered if he was impressed that she hadn’t fully fallen over. She was useless, perhaps, but she had spirit. 

Dully, Cait stared at the knees of daddy’s torn trousers, trousers that she had been forced to patch up with her own bony, trembling fingers time and time again. And she’d polish the shoes, too, every Sunday evening, even though daddy knew they’d get dirty anyway. They lived on a fucking farm, for God’s sake. 

Again, the barrel of the shotgun cracked against Cait’s head, and this time she allowed herself a little squeal of terror and let her body go limp – she couldn’t help it. Her vision was blurring a little, and her skull hurt like hell, but it didn’t overcome the sickening sense of powerlessness she felt lying at her daddy’s feet. She heard him sling the shotgun over his shoulder, felt his rough hands turning her over and lifting her up with his terrifying might until she was slung over his shoulder like a sack of mutfruit, a lifeless doll. 

And he carried her back to Hell.

\---

PRESENT DAY: THE INSTITUTE HAS FALLEN

_**“Dozens of years, countless sacrifices. It all paid off thanks to you. Deacon says this was his plan all along.”** _

_**“Who knows? Maybe he did plan it all.”** _

_**A raised eyebrow and an uncertain yet disbelieving laugh. “Some things even Deacon can’t do… maybe.”** _

_**They both sighed, looking over the edge of the roof at the ringed clouds and radioactive dust obscuring the city below. At the total destruction they had caused. Annihilation of the innocent as well as the apparent evil. And somewhere in the rubble… a son. Shaun. Father of all synths. Director of the Institute.** _

_**Everything Bianca had learned over the past months stung her inside and out, burned her like an open wound. Made her question her every decision, word and action. And yet here she was, her finger throbbing and her mind crushing her conscience with the knowledge that it was her who had deluded her own son and destroyed his life’s work – it was her who pushed the button to detonate the bomb. As much as it had to be done, she was still a killer. And that made this so much worse.** _

_**“Hate runs deep in the Commonwealth,” Desdemona said after a few moments. “Deeper than the soil. To them, synths are the living embodiment of the Institute’s oppression. I’d understand if you want a much needed vacation, but are you up for the next mission, Whisper?”** _

_**Mission after mission had brought Bianca here. And she had no doubt they could bring her back. With finality, she said, “I think I’ll take that vacation first.”** _

_**Desdemona laughed, and Bianca absorbed the ease with which she could do such a thing after the destruction of the Institute. Yes, it was over. The Commonwealth would rejoice, and Bianca’s friends would look to her as their hero – the killer of the bogeyman.** _

_**And yet, Bianca felt shaky and hollow inside. She felt like she was losing her mind. Even worse… she felt like she was finally losing sight, forever, of the life she used to live with Nate and Shaun, safe in the confines of their Sanctuary Hills home. She felt like the memory had torn free somewhere between her finger pressing that button and the explosion hitting her in waves; it had fluttered away while she stood there staring at the clouds, feeling the incredible heat on her face.  
She had effectively killed her own son, the only thing left in this broken world that she’d wanted. ** _

_**“Take all the time you need,” Desdemona told her. “We’ll be waiting. Our safe houses will be bursting with synths seeking a better life outside the Commonwealth. Not everyone in the Institute died. We’d be foolish not to consider a retaliation. Come back to the HQ and lead the rest of our people to freedom.”** _

_**Bianca forced herself to meet the woman’s eyes, even though the thought of fighting the Institute again made her nauseous.  
“I will. I really will.”** _

 

It was a foolish thing to say, Bianca decided. She honestly had no idea whether she would return to the Railroad to help the rest of the synths. She had the greatest hopes for them, but she’d realized hardly a week after the destruction of the Institute that she was _done_. The experience had caused the loss of some deep, necessary part of her that she had no idea how to get back. 

And even if it took her whole life, she was going to get it back.

All the Railroad had for her now were the smarting memories of what she did. And the synth boy – Father’s synthetic rendition of Shaun, who looked like Shaun, and sounded like Shaun, but would never be Shaun. Bianca hadn’t been able to leave him behind in the Institute because she’d known it was her son’s last gift to her. Perhaps, even though she’d stabbed him in the back, he’d still wanted his mother to be happy – to witness the years she’d lost of him growing up.

But although Bianca was aware by now of just how close to humans synths were, she was still finally beginning to understand the paranoia of having a relative replaced. No, Bianca didn’t want to see the new Shaun. Not yet. And Desdemona would make sure he was taken care of – he was a synth, after all. 

Bianca had paid a visit to Diamond City before going off the grid, of course, wanting to see the few friends she’d left there – Nick and Piper, for instance, who had backed her since her first few days in the Commonwealth. Without them, she would never have found Shaun and defeated the Institute. And then there was Curie, too, a Miss Handy Bot from Vault 81 who had found a place in the Diamond City society after Bianca had helped her merge her mind to a synth body. Piper and Nick had promised to take care of her, and they’d done their job well. The pretty French woman was the happiest Bianca had ever seen her when she returned to the city, hugging her with painful enthusiasm. 

Bianca was in Diamond City for a night’s celebration, having rented a room in Dugout Inn, but was off as quickly as possible the next morning (hungover, nonetheless) after collecting Dogmeat from Publick Occurences. Dogmeat, Bianca had long ago realized, was the only companion she could allow with her for periods of longer than a month. He didn’t talk, didn’t complain, was ever-loyal, and seemed to expect hardly anything from her in return. 

She’d always wanted a dog before the war, but Nate had been allergic, and they’d had Shaun to take care of anyway. No room for pets – even pets as self-sufficient as Dogmeat. 

Now, as Dogmeat brutally ripped his teeth through the throat of a very shocked raider, creating a small fountain of crimson blood and a sickly gurgle, Bianca felt an odd sense of sadistic pride rise within her. Patting his head, she cooed, “Good boy.”

Dogmeat whined his excitement, wagging his tail, and Bianca turned her attention finally to the double doors which led out into the noise beyond. Over the past month since the destruction of the Institute, she’d been focused on tying up loose ends: exploring the old Witchcraft museum, clearing out super mutant dens, dealing with mirelurks around the Castle – the Minutemen base – and reluctantly acting as an exterminator of sorts for the many settlements she’d come across. Anything, really, to get the bottlecaps she needed to survive. 

It was this drifting, aimless living that drew Bianca further and further away from civilization. She was losing more of herself as the days went by, and was quickly becoming frustrated by her own lack of ability in discovering why. 

Nevertheless, she kept wandering. She, Bianca DeLuca, ex-member of the Brotherhood of Steel, secret agent of the now well-known organization The Railroad, would-have-been director of the Institute, and current General of the Minutemen. 

The titles meant nothing, really. Now, she was only the Lone Wanderer once again. Back to square one. Bianca the Sole fucking Survivor of Vault 111.

Maybe “Whisper” was more fitting, after all. She hardly existed anymore. She hardly felt like a human anymore. 

Bianca inched closer to the doors, realizing that the distant hum of noise was jeering and shouting – the raiders were being entertained. Which was exciting, really, but not as exciting as what Bianca had in store for them. She’d heard about the Combat Zone a while ago from some passer-by in Diamond City. As the Lone Wanderer, she’d decided she might as well check it out. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Death? Maybe that was what she deserved, after all. 

She ran her hand over the hilt of her sword – a curved, deadly blade she’d discovered in the depths of a pool deep in a mine, a piece of treasure subsequently named Kremhv’s Tooth after the poisonous teeth of one of Grognak’s famous enemies in the comics. Bianca had always been a fan of superheroes. 

And then there was the railroad rifle, chugging away calmly in her hands, softly vibrating like a purring cat. She’d pinned the female raider behind the counter to the wall after the woman had badmouthed her, ignoring the fact that she was tied and rather defenseless. If anything, Bianca had grown more ruthless since becoming a wanderer once again. 

She had twenty-eight railroad spikes left; only four in the rifle itself. Enough to maim or kill many Raiders, but certainly not all the ones she could hear behind the door. With the sword and rifle combined, her survival amounted to a maybe.

She needed some juice to amp her up.

Bianca reached into her bag and pulled out some Med-X, Psycho, and three Jet inhalers. The first two drugs she injected into the already-scarred creases of her elbows, grimacing as the power rushed to her head and filled her with the humming energy of a demon on acid. She paused one second before taking the first inhaler of Jet, mentally preparing herself for what was to come next. 

Once she felt the Jet taking effect, everything around her zooming away, her body filling with the most delicious energy, Bianca raised the railroad rifle and screamed at the top of her lungs as she shoved the doors open and sprinted into the room beyond. 

\---

“You think they’re done out there?”

Cait glanced down at Tommy, saw the nervous sweat on his brow, and rolled her eyes. “Oh, just peek yer head up, you damn coward,” she muttered.

“We don’t want any trouble!” he shouted, hands raised in weary surrender as their mysterious raider-slayer finally finished looting the last corpse and then ascended the steps to the fighting cage. Cait’s face was smarting, and she felt she might have a black eye coming along, but none of that stopped her from checking out the stranger with obvious suspicion. It wasn’t just anyone who could clear a room full of raiders, after all. Not many humans, anyway, or Cait would have done it herself long ago.

This stranger did appear to be human, however; Cait could see dark blood soaking the left thigh of a rather tight, olive-colored uniform. Gunner? Brotherhood? Some other faction, perhaps?

As they entered the harsh brightness of Cait’s bloody arena, she realized the raider-slayer appeared to be leaving just about everything to the imagination. She could tell it was a woman from the feminine shape of her curves, but despite the tight bodysuit, her choice in armor disguised most of her figure. It was all heavy, lead-infused, buckled tight around her limbs. And her face was uncannily obscured by a pair of tinted patrolman sunglasses and a red bandana. All Cait really could see was the bronze-brown hair plastered to the forehead with sweat and, in some places, tanned olive skin. In the woman’s right hand was a still-smoking railway rifle pointed in their general direction. Boy, would Cait like to get her hands on one of those.

“Well,” she said, when Tommy seemed too frightened to speak. “Aren’t _you_ the dangerous one.”

The woman said nothing, but stepped further into the light. A mangy-looking dog licking blood from its muzzle joined her side, staring at Cait with a rather threatening look in its eye. 

“Don’t even worry about it,” Cait added after a moment’s thought. “Most of ‘em look better riddled with a few bulletholes. Ain’t that right, Tommy?”

He hesitated, then slowly rose from his crouch. “Well… I suppose that could’ve gone worse.”

Cait laughed derisively. “I don’t know. Seemed quite the performance from where I was standin’.”

“Are you fuckin’ high or somethin’?” Tommy growled. He sighed, looking Cait up and down in his usual weary way, as if he was searching for something that just wasn’t there. The same look Cait had gotten from almost everyone in her life. “Why am I askin’ – of course you are.”

“Still won the fight, didn’t I?” Cait shot back defiantly.

“You’re strung out and getting sloppy is what you are.” With a cautious look at the strange woman, who was still watching them silently, he added, “Course, you don’t gotta worry about that now. Seems this one just put us out of business.”

The woman cocked her head, and Cait realized that she’d finally lowered the rifle. Her dog, apparently bored shitless with the conversation, had laid down at her feet and begun licking its paws. 

With a surprising amount of courage, Tommy spoke directly to the woman: “I’m not sure if I should kiss you or have my little bird here feed you your own entrails.”

Cait, extremely reluctant as always to do the man’s bidding, shot Tommy a heated glare. “I told you to quit callin’ me that!”

The woman considered them both for a long second more before speaking: “Out of business? What do you mean?”

Her voice was a smooth purr – the sort of voice you rarely heard anymore. The sort of voice which was somehow quite familiar despite its rarity. 

“Not the entrepreneurial type, are ya?” Tommy muttered snidely. “Keeping those idiots entertained was what kept us in caps. Now just what the hell are we supposed to do?”

“To hell with ‘em!” Cait burst out. “More’ll come. Just need a quick breather and I’ll be ready to go!”

In truth, Cait’s lungs were still struggling with the most mundane ability to breathe. Her skin ached, her bones creaked, and her eyes burned. Without psycho, she was a useless shell – a soulless, powerless being. 

But Tommy didn’t need to know that. 

“A breather? What? So you can slam more of that stuff into your arm?” Tommy shook his head. “No, no. You know what? I think this was a blessing in disguise.”

Cait narrowed her eyes at him as the ghoul turned his full attention to their savior and said, with hunger in his voice, “You caught the end of that bout. What’d ya think of Cait’s work?”

“Why do you ask?” the woman countered. 

“Consider it professional curiosity. Now what’d ya think of the fight?”

While the woman’s head didn’t move, Cait could tell her eyes were on her, perhaps reading into the scrawny figure, the pallid skin, the visible psycho scars on her bare arms – the whole unhealthy look about her. 

“I’ve seen better,” came the woman’s smooth voice.

“Ha!” Cait sneered. “Like hell ya have!”

Tommy chuckled incredulously. “While she’s still armed and within closing distance? You’re a brave one, ain’t ya?”

Cait’s fingers tightened around her bat, torn between feeling as if she had to impress this woman somehow and acting as though she couldn’t care less for the words of a stranger. 

“So here’s my predicament,” Tommy said in his businessman voice. “I have no audience. No audience means no caps.” He glanced at Cait. “And if you ain’t bringin’ in caps, little bird, you ain’t an asset. You’re a liability. To me… and to yourself. So… here’s what I’m thinkin’. What say you take over her contract, hero? She goes with you, watches your back…”

The woman’s body seemed to stiffen all of a sudden. “Why would you want her to go with me?”

“Yeah, Tommy?” Cait demanded angrily, turning on her boss. “Just why the hell you tryin’ to get rid of me?”

The ghoul sighed. “Look, truth is, all that junk has been making you careless. And I don’t want to be the one doing color commentary when you finally hit the floor. Alright? So just do me this favor – both of you.”

The woman said flatly, “Not interested.”

Cait’s fingers tightened even harder on the bat as she glowered at the woman. Not that she was interested in traipsing around the Commonwealth with this bitch, anyway. Yeah, she couldn’t live without psycho, and she didn’t look the sight, but her anger had gotten her places nothing else could. Her anger gave her power over everything and everyone else.

“Hmm,” Tommy said. “Shame. Normally I’m good at these match-ups. What about we say you’ll think about it? If you change your mind, we’ll be here. You wouldn’t mind, would ya little bird?”

“If it means not having to put up with you,” Cait spat at him. “She couldn’t come back soon enough.” She glanced at the woman, but could only see the twin reflections of her scrawny self in the sunglasses. 

“Good,” Tommy said, unfazed, turning back to the stranger. “Then it’s settled. You decide you wanna be paired with the best, you’re welcome anytime.”

The woman’s eyes were still on Cait, she realized, still searching her. Searching the dark bags beneath her eyes now, perhaps, and the bruises mixed with the freckles, and the deep-red hair which hadn’t been washed for a week.

“The best?” the woman repeated. 

“Regardless of what you think you saw, lady,” Tommy said, “my little bird’s the winner of over a hundred titles here. She can fight good. And she don’t lose.”

“Traveling with me isn’t about winning or losing,” the woman said abruptly, speaking to Cait directly for the first time. “I don’t need a trigger-happy companion; I need a trustworthy second gun. That means you follow my rules, you watch my back, and you don’t throw yourself head-first into whatever danger we come across. Understood?”

Very slowly, Cait nodded. To be completely honest, she was shocked past any semblance of anger. She hadn’t expected this woman to accept – certainly not after such an easy persuasion. Yet again, she’d been passed on to a new master. Another strange, ruthless killer. 

The lack of control Cait had over her own life had never surprised her. Even after she’d paid her way out of slavery, she’d somehow found herself under another man’s command. The powerlessness was a disease she couldn’t rid herself of.

But why had the woman changed her mind so suddenly?

Despite her suspicions, Cait wasn’t one to bite the hand that fed her – if this woman was giving her the chance to get out of here, she’d take it. Tommy was right; she couldn’t last forever here. She didn’t _want_ to last forever here. Any day now, she could be the one bleeding out in this damn cage, when she’d rather die with her ego fully intact.

“So you’ll take her?” Tommy questioned eagerly. Quickly, he pulled out the purse of bottlecaps from the latest fight and stepped forward to hand it to the woman. “You can take this as well – consider it a reimbursement. Exterminator’s fee.”

The woman took the money coolly and turned her head again to survey Cait, more outwardly this time. “I don’t want any fucking around.”

Cait snorted. “Believe me, darlin’, I _don’t_ fuck around.”

Though, of course, she was planning to cut and run the moment she was out of here and had managed to glean as much as she could from the lady. To Cait, that wasn’t fucking around; it was life. Better to fend for herself alone in the Commonwealth rather than follow a killer and her filthy molerat of a dog. They were a duo who were sure to bring her trouble.

“Good. Get whatever you need and meet me outside.” As the woman spun to leave, her dog climbed rapidly to its feet and bounded around excitedly. Cait wrinkled her nose as it followed its master back out into the auditorium, wondering about the journey to come.

As Tommy made to walk away, Cait rapidly moved to intercept, lifting her bat to bar his way and pressing the wood firmly to his beefy chest. “Now just wait a second – what exactly’re you gonna do without me here?”

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Tommy muttered. “I’ll get this place set up right, maybe find a less blood-soaked clientele. You just get the hell outta here, will ya?”

Cait, her anger rising, glowered at him with as much hate as she could muster.

Tommy sighed through his teeth. “You ain’t welcome anymore, little bird." He pushed at the bat forcefully and Cait was forced to let it drop, her muscles too tired to put up a fight. He passed with ease, and Cait was both mortified and furious to find tears pricking hotly behind her eyes. 

“You’re a real son of a bitch, you know that, Tommy?” she yelled after him.

The man chuckled. “You don’t have to tell me.”


	2. Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait makes a break for it.

Bianca was confused by her own decision. She didn’t need a second gun – she could take care of herself. A troublesome, raider-brawling drug addict certainly wasn’t an ideal companion, either. And yet… she’d spent an afternoon now walking through the streets with this unfamiliar woman trailing behind her.

To Bianca’s surprise, the woman had brought nothing from the Combat Zone except the world’s tiniest bag, which was probably chock-full of chems and caps. She’d left the bat behind and had only a sawn-off shotgun slung over one shoulder, seemingly weighing her down the longer they walked. No armor, since the woman apparently had a death wish.

Bianca had hoped that Cait would at least be as silent and brooding as she was; instead, she never seemed to stop talking. Aside from asking where they were going, who she was and demanding why she’d agreed to take the contract, Cait was constantly complaining about the heat, Dogmeat’s stench, finding camp, the distance they were walking… and by the time they stopped in the shell of a desolated building to set up camp, Bianca wanted to shoot the woman just to shut her up. 

Bianca had chosen a diner in the outskirts of the city, abandoned with the exception of a few roaches she’d had to squelch beneath her boots. Cait hadn’t been much help clearing out the place. The floor inside was littered with rusted cans, discarded food items from long ago, and a crunchy carpet of decaying leaves. Not perfect, but it would have to do for a night. Bianca spent the first twenty minutes sweeping away as much of the mess as she could – again, no help from Cait. Cait didn’t help to build the fire, either, and she paid no notice to the smell of cooking radstag flesh. Bianca was beginning to wonder what exactly the woman thought she was here for. It wasn’t to sulk – that was for sure.

The Irish woman remained outside the diner, sitting on one of the bar stools with her shotgun across her knees, sulking at the darkening sky. She certainly didn’t look like a fighter. She was too small, too slim, too vulnerable-looking. Surely her arms were too scrawny to even take the recoil of that gun. However, Bianca had learned not to judge the people of the Commonwealth on appearances. The woman was tough, for sure. More than a hundred raiders had died by her hands in that fighting cage, so she must be a whole lot stronger than she looks. 

Bianca collected her rifle from where it leaned against the diner’s doorway, stepped out into the approaching night, and beckoned to Cait. The woman rolled her eyes and stood, sauntering over, kicking at a can so it rolled and fell into a drain. “This better be worth it.”

“Watch the food,” was all Bianca ordered her.

Cait’s lip curled into an expression of exasperation. “I’m not yer fockin’ chef. Where’re you goin’? You leavin’ me here?”

“Watch the food,” Bianca repeated. Then she turned and headed into the parking lot, carefully sweeping the area with the crosshairs of her rifle. 

Behind her, she heard a low grumble: “All right. It’s yer funeral, after all.”

\---

Cait knew this was the best time to make her move. Her mysterious companion had wandered off into the darkness, and her dog had gone off to hunt for food. No one was here to see her run.

Cait slipped into the diner, eyeing the flickering flames and the two considerably large chunks of radstag meat cooking on a grate above them. For a second, she hesitated, surprised that the woman had thought to put some food on for her. Was running really a good idea? Was there really anything out there for her?

Well, no. That was why Cait preferred it.

Hastily, she searched the room, triumphant when she saw the sack-like bag sitting on a counter – the woman’s travelling gear. She’d taken only a few items with her when she left, stupidly leaving the rest of her belongings here for the taking. Even the most fearful of mercenaries made mistakes, after all.  


Cait rifled through the pockets, grinning to herself when she found the bag of caps – _hundreds_ of caps, perhaps even more caps than Cait had ever seen in one place. This lady didn’t mess around. And there were cans of purified water, too, of cram; ripe red tatoes and eared corn; even a half-full bottle of whiskey with its cap screwed on tight. 

Cait took only the bottlecaps and half the supply of the woman’s stimpacks, knowing she wouldn’t need much more when she was out in the open. It had been a while, but she was well aware of how to live on the run, wandering alone in the Commonwealth. Money and medicine were normally the only things hard to come by.

The sky had turned to a velvety black by the time Cait slipped out of the shop, bag tight on her shoulders, shotgun in her hands, the jingle of caps resounding like music to her ears as she broke out in a straight sprint away from the diner. She felt more alive than she had in ages – a feeling much helped by her recent application of psycho. The buildings warped and flashed around her, and her senses felt multiplied magnificently. She was a superhuman on the run, and nothing could stop her.  


Eventually she did have to stop because she tasted blood in her mouth and her head was pounding too much. Cait leaned against a mailbox, catching her breath, straining to hear the city around her. There was, as usual, that low hum of radiation and life, the distant rattling of machine-gun fire, wind pummeling the weakened metal of the skyscrapers all around her. For a split second, Cait remembered a moment like this sixteen years before, when she’d run away from home and had felt monumentally alone for the first time. It was a sickening sort of loneliness. Painful. But she’d liked it all the same.

A nauseating sense of dejavu made Cait gasp through her teeth as something sharp pressed suddenly into her back – so sharp that she could feel the cold metal through her corset. And then the voice, purring and soft: “Going somewhere?”

This woman moved quieter than anyone Cait had ever met. She was a ghost, a whisper.

“Did you need somethin’?” Cait asked evenly.

The sword pressed harder into her back, and a hand reached around and unslung the straps of her bag from her shoulders none too gently. Cait gritted her teeth and glowered at the ground in front of her as she heard the woman unzip her bag and sigh. 

“You don’t think I expected this?” the woman asked. 

Cait said nothing, still fuming.

“I said no fucking around.”

“Yeah?”

“Stealing from me and making a run for it… seems a lot like fucking around,” the woman growled.

Cait shrugged, then winced as the woman twisted the tip of her blade between her shoulder blades, jerking her forward. The distant gunfire had stopped; now there was only the wind and the Commonwealth hum. And the sounds of two women breathing, existing together. 

“You burned the food.”

“Huh?” Cait was incredulous. 

To her surprise, the sword tip was suddenly drawn away from her back and she felt as if she could breathe again. Very slowly, she turned around, knowing there was no way she could run now, lacking energy as she was.

The woman was no longer wearing her bandana; she’d pulled it down around her neck, and Cait was rather taken aback to see more of the olive skin she seemed so desperate to hide: very smooth skin, and smooth full lips. If anything, Cait had expected to at least see something ugly and worth covering under that bandana. 

“What exactly are you running away from?” the woman asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice. Her teeth were startlingly white against her tanned skin. “Or running away _to_?”

Cait didn’t reply, still trying to catch her breath back. She wasn’t running from or to anything; she was running for the sake of it. For the sake of finally being free. But that fact was much too hard to explain to a stranger she didn’t even know.

“Well…” With lithe, slender fingers, the woman pulled the edges of the bandana up over her mouth and nose again. “Have fun with that.” Bending over, she picked up the stolen belongings she’d retrieved from Cait’s bag and turned to leave. “But I’d wait till morning, if I were you. Terrible things come out in the dark.”

“I know,” Cait muttered, though she wasn’t sure what else to say. Was that it? So she could leave? The woman wasn’t going to stop her?

She watched the retreating back of the raider-slayer as she disappeared yet again into the darkness, heading back to the warm camp she’d set up without Cait’s help. What the hell did a woman like her need with someone like Cait, anyway? She was more than capable of surviving alone, just her and that mangy mutt. Whatever she’d accepted Cait’s contract for… well, Cait had no clue. The least she could do, really, was stay long enough to find out. Right?

She stood there for a while by the mailbox, shotgun still held loosely in her hands, bag at her feet. The woman had only asked for an extra gun. It seemed she was willing to provide Cait with food, a safe place to sleep, maybe even caps if she were lucky. Perhaps Cait had actually found a better purpose than fighting in the Combat Zone.

Very reluctantly, she picked up her bag, zipped it closed, and started heading back the way she’d come. She felt stupid for changing her mind – hell, for running away in the first place. But the woman had offered, and she wasn’t stupid enough to turn her down a second time.


	3. General Bianca

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a week of travelling, Cait learns several more surprising things about her new companion.

A week of her new contract with the woman was enough to tell Cait she’d made the right choice by staying. None of the things she had to do were particularly hard – unlike many of her masters before, this woman didn’t try to make Cait do things to humiliate or hurt her. All they’d been doing was menial tasks; exterminations, really. Cait’s new ally seemed to have a real merc business going. Every settlement they came across would need her help. Money kept coming in the more houses they cleared of ghouls, lakes of mirelurks, shops of raiders. And despite her reluctance to do much good for people who she figured were doomed anyway, Cait was actually rather enjoying it. 

A week of travelling with this woman, and she knew a few things about her – she knew that she couldn’t sleep unless she was zipped fully in her sleeping bag, gun tight by her side; she knew the woman had a fondness for liquor the way Cait had a fondness for chems; she knew the woman was very affectionate toward her dog whom she called “Dogmeat”; she knew that plenty of people in the settlements they’d visited seemed to know who she was…

But there was no name, and Cait had convinced herself she wasn’t desperately curious enough to ask for it. The woman never uncovered her eyes, either, so Cait wasn’t even able to judge the woman’s character through her so-called “windows to the soul”. It was frustrating, really, to be traveling with someone who was a ghost. _Very_ frustrating. 

They’d been travelling steadily east since leaving the Combat Zone, and the buildings were beginning to thin out. Cait had slowly realized that without a psycho shot a day she was hardly able to walk a mile without needing to stop to rest. The need for energy was getting worse – at night, especially, when she found herself wide awake and hungry for more, sweating and unable to keep still. 

Cait had only realized this morning that they were approaching the sea – she recognized the mutated seagulls flying overhead, and there was a distinctly salty smell in the air. She questioned her companion about it, but the woman only grunted. 

“You don’t speak much, do you?” Cait sighed. 

They were heading through a low-rise section of city, and the sun was mercilessly hot, searing Cait’s pale skin. She was only holding back on asking for a stop because she didn’t want the other woman to snap at her again for slowing them down. Cait wasn’t used to being the weak one. 

As usual, the woman didn’t answer, instead nodding ahead to point out the landmark they were approaching. Cait’s mind turned instantly to the stony building ahead of them, perched right on the edge of the sea – magnificent yet shattered.

“What a dump, eh?” Cait remarked. “That where we’re headin’?”

The woman seemed slightly incensed by her comment. “It’s the base of the Minutemen.”

“Well…” Cait grumbled. “I don’t get these minutemen. Why’d you bother helpin’ farmers and settlers fer _free_?”

They were silent as they approached, the castle towering over them like a fallen beast. The wall of one of the battlements had collapsed, and Cait could see what looked like a settlement beyond, built in the castle’s courtyard. There was a radio tower, some stalls, a few areas outlined for crops, and a miniature population of people wandering around carrying out their usual domestic jobs.

“General!” came a rather enthusiastic voice.

Cait started warily as a man approached them. His outfit looked ridiculous, but she was impressed by the long-barreled laser musket he was carrying. Like the rest of the Minutemen, he had the appearance of a cowboy on a budget, his clothes neat yet stained with dust, blood and oil. His fedora was frayed, perched proudly on his head, and he wore black books which had been duct-taped along the edges. 

“Preston,” her companion replied simply.

“Wasn’t sure we were gonna see you,” Preston replied. To Cait’s absolute surprise, he exchanged a friendly hug with the woman, grinning widely. “I can hardly believe it – the Institute’s gone! I never thought I’d live to see that day. But… it’s not all sunshine and rainbows from here on out.”

The woman only smiled sarcastically. Cait stared at her, trying to comprehend what was happening. She was used to the woman’s sense of humor – the same humor she herself used in situations she didn’t like. But this was the sarcasm you’d use with a friend; Preston was her friend. What exactly led a mercenary to befriend a leading member of the Minutemen?

“What? No sunshine and rainbows? Next you’re gonna tell me I’m not getting a pony.”

“If I had any ponies to hand out, you’d be first on my list,” Preston replied with a smile. “None of this would’ve happened without you.”

Suddenly, it all clicked. Cait’s eyes widened and she turned fully to stare at her mysterious companion who – as luck would have it – was no longer a mystery. “Now wait just a sec-”

“Cait,” the woman warned. “Later.”

“But yer… yer that lady everyone’s been talkin’ about!” Cait exclaimed, pointing at her. She laughed. “God, it’s all startin’ to make sense!”

Preston glanced at her, taken aback, and asked very politely, “Who might this be?”

“A friend.”

“Are we friends?” Cait asked in mock-surprise. “General, you shoulda told me! Here I was, thinkin’ you hated my guts -”

“Shut up,” the woman snapped. “Preston? Perhaps we could talk inside. I just have a few updates on some of the in-city settlements…”

Unsure, Preston nodded and gestured for her to follow him through an archway into the castle battlements. Cait wasn’t sure whether or not to shadow her companion, and was about to tag along when the woman abruptly turned back and pointed a finger at her. “Stay there. Might be best if you don’t talk to anyone, either.”

“Don’t worry – I’ll sit like a good dog,” Cait muttered through her teeth. 

“Cait,” the woman warned through her teeth. “For _once_ , do what I say and stay out of trouble. Later we can talk.”

“But you don’t talk!” she snapped as the woman turned and left with Preston. “Ever!”

Sighing, she kicked at the dust and turned to glare at Dogmeat, who was panting up at her in exhilaration. “Wanna play, eh?” she muttered.

He barked and bounced on his paws.

“Fine.” She picked up a rock, took a few steps, and then chucked it as hard she could – into the sea. 

“Go fetch, you stinkin’ mutt.”

\---

Coming back to the Castle hadn’t been on the top of Bianca’s list, but after visiting a few settlements which had been raided yet again by super mutant parties, she’d realized it would probably be better to stop wasting her time and get some of the Minutemen down there to start setting up better defenses. She may be the Lone Wanderer again, but that didn’t mean she was going to let all her hard work as the General fall to ruin.

The Minutemen base was looking good – it had been built up into a legitimate settlement, and most of the people looked surprisingly cheerful. Radio Freedom had been one of the first radios to report on the fall of the Institute, and had been sure not to leave their general’s name out when taking note of who had made it happen. Most of these settlers had probably moved here to be closer to the General who’d defeated their worst enemy; for once, the Minutemen had succeeded in their job of making the Commonwealth a safer place. Where safer than the heart of it all?

Bianca should have a reason to rejoice with her followers, but she wasn’t much in the mood. After a long talk with Preston to ensure enough men would get down to settlements in need, she told him she wasn’t ready to return to the Minutemen for good, and it could be a while until she was. Preston wasn’t particularly glad about this, but he agreed she deserved some time to herself. 

When she returned to the courtyard, Bianca was rather surprised to see Cait actually communicating with someone – Ronnie Shaw, of all people – when she’d been explicitly told not to. While Cait was still as boisterous and irritating as she’d been a week ago, she’d gotten much better at following orders since her botched attempt at running away. This was a rather blatant deviation from the rules.

Bianca stormed over, frowning, striding up behind the red-haired woman and catching just a snatch of their conversation:

“…but yeah, the General ain’t as bad as she seems. Cleared this place out, for one-”

“Alright, alright, so she’s a damned hero, but I was thinkin’ more her backstory – ya know, where she came from, her real name…” 

“Hell,” Ronnie muttered, noticing Bianca all of a sudden. “Look, lady, unless you need somethin’ important, stop pestering me.”

Cait’s shoulders stiffened with her usual reaction of belligerent frustration. “Damn right I w-”

“Cait?” Bianca said smoothly.

Cait turned slowly, eyes glittering, and replied, “Yes, General?”

Bianca hesitated, wanting to say something to shut the other woman down, but resolved that there was really no need. Patience was what she had over Cait, and she wasn’t about to lose it.

“Come on. We’re leaving.”

“So soon?” Cait followed her as she made a beeline for the collapsed battlement they’d passed coming in, her voice tinged with sarcasm. “Aren’t you goin’ to stay and celebrate with yer people here, General?”

Bianca stopped abruptly and spun to face the other woman. Dogmeat whimpered, anticipating a fight.

“I don’t pretend to be something I’m not,” she snapped. Cait’s smirk only flickered as she realized what the older woman was referring to; while Bianca was secretive for sure, it was Cait who she’d caught shooting psycho into her arm when she’d thought she wasn’t looking. It was Cait who had tried to steal from her and make a run for it. And it wasn’t as if the Irish woman had been sharing much about herself, either. Despite the lack of communication between them, Bianca was getting more of a feel for Cait as the days went by: she was tough, sure, but that was just an exterior. The girl was even more complicated than that.

“Didn’t say you were pretendin’, General,” Cait retorted. “I was jus-”

“Stop calling me that.”

“General?”

“Yes. Stop.” Bianca twisted and continued walking, clicking so that Dogmeat jumped to follow her at her heels. At least one of her companions followed the rules she'd set.

“Hey,” Cait called, struggling to keep up with Bianca’s long-legged strides. “I’m just sayin’ it makes sense that clearin’ the Combat Zone would be easy for you – raiders are nothin’ compared to the Institute, right?”

Grinding her teeth, Bianca muttered, “I didn’t fight the Institute alone.”

“Right!” Cait said triumphantly. “You had the Railroad at yer back, didn’t you?”

They’d passed out of the Castle now, and were striding back towards the city buildings. Midday sun was reflecting off every stained glass and metal surface, so bright that Bianca was beginning to wonder how Cait wasn’t blind without sunglasses.

“So that’s it, huh? You want to know who I am?” Bianca muttered grimly.

“Maybe.” Cait said it coyly, in a way that certainly wasn’t her usual style. It occurred to Bianca all of a sudden that this was what she’d wanted – this human curiosity. _This_ was why she’d accepted Cait’s contract. She couldn’t stand travelling with another person for more than a month, but after the Institute, after Shaun… she couldn’t bear to be alone, either. She’d wanted someone to wonder about her, to ask her who she was and where she came from. And she’d wanted that someone to care about the answer, in whatever way that might be. 

When Bianca didn’t say anything for a few minutes, Cait began speaking again: “When I first heard yer voice, I thought it sounded pretty familiar. Now I know why. Months ago – I think it was after a shitty fight with some brute called Dickson… somethin’ like that, I was listenin’ to the radio and there was an announcement…”

“Yeah,” Bianca said reluctantly. “The Institute to the Commonwealth. That was my voice.”

Cait whistled. “So you were really in there – the Institute, I mean.”

“I was.” Bianca slowed to a stop, head throbbing for some reason as she turned to glance at her companion. “Are you really interested in hearing about this?”

“Well, I’d rather be off murderin’ a pint. But this’ll do.”

Bianca thought for a moment. “What about we do both?”

“Huh?”

She unslung her bag, unzipped the middle pocket, and withdrew a bottle of bourbon she’d looted from a raider den two days ago. She’d drunken about two shot-glasses worth of the liquor, and there was plenty left to last her for a few sleepless nights. Or to drink with a story.

“Now we’re talkin’!” Cait grinned. 

“Come on.” 

Bianca tossed her bag onto the bonnet of a car and then followed it, shimmying up until she was sitting where the windshield used to be. Cait joined her without complaint, resting with her hands behind her head and her legs crossing at the ankle, eyes closed tight against the sunlight. After a few seconds of silence, Bianca saw her peek an eye open and look at her suspiciously. 

“You gonna tell me somethin’ or what?”

Surprising herself, Bianca smiled. She unscrewed the cap of the bourbon and took a long gulp, allowing the alcohol to burn its way down her throat and settle deep down before she began. She was going to open up to this woman for whatever reason, so she at least needed some liquid courage inside her. As she spoke, Cait took the bottle from her and nestled it in her arms, taking lengthy sips. 

Bianca began with the vault – where else to start? Instantly, she was pelted with questions from the abrasive Irish woman:

“Yer a vault dweller?” Cait sat up suddenly, eyes narrowed. “And did you say 2077?”

Bianca sighed, feeling as if she’d had to explain this too many times. “I lived in Boston before the great war, yes. The day the bombs fell, I entered the vault with my family. And they froze us cryogenically, some sort of experiment that we weren’t made aware of. I was frozen for two hundred years, and when I finally got out, the world was… well, it was like this. The Commonwealth.”

Cait whistled and took yet another sip of the bourbon. “See, I wanna believe you, but-”

“In what way,” Bianca muttered, more to herself than anything, “after seeing everything the Commonwealth has to offer, is my story so hard to believe?”

Cait shrugged. 

“Fine. Whatever.” Bianca pressed two fingers to her forehead while she tried to backtrack. “While I got used to the Commonwealth, I began meeting up with factions of people trying to do some good – I saved Preston and some settlers in Concord, and began helping the Minutemen after that...”

“Now yer the General,” Cait nodded, as if ticking off a list.

“… After fighting off some ghouls at Cambridge police station, I met a Paladin from the Brotherhood of Steel and ended up enlisting-”

“Didn’t last long, did it?”

“Wha - no, it didn’t.” Bianca glared at the other woman. “I’d prefer if you didn’t interrupt me while I'm talking.”

Cait smirked. “Sorry. Go on.”

“Once I got to Diamond City, I heard rumors of the Railroad, and due to… personal reasons… I decided I’d search for them. Hence, I became a member-”

“How’d you end up in the Institute? That’s what I was gettin’ at, really,” Cait rejoined. "All the other stuff's great, but what exactly made those synth-lovin' lunatics let you in?"

Bianca sighed, already losing energy in the conversation. “No interrupting.”

“Right.” Cait grinned again. “Sorry.”

For a second, she looked at the Irish woman and wondered what the hell she was doing here, sitting and sharing a drink, telling her what she’d never normally tell a stranger. Again, it felt as if she was losing track of who she was. _I don't need a companion; I need a second gun_. That was what she'd said when she'd accepted Cait's contract. So what exactly had changed?

“You know what?” Bianca reached for the bottle of bourbon and plucked it from Cait’s hands, stuffing it back into her bag. “Never mind. We should head out.”

“What?” For once, Cait looked truly surprised. “Yer leavin’ me hangin’, then? That it?”

As Bianca hopped down from the car, she muttered, “I guess I’d never really wanted to open up in the first place.”

“Ah, so I blinded you with my charm,” Cait grinned. "Figures."

“Yeah,” Bianca said flatly. “Your _charm_.”

Cait clambered off the car too, green eyes searching Bianca’s face through the glasses and the bandana with aggressive curiosity. Like she wanted to peel away all the layers and see what was hiding inside. No, she had no charm whatsoever. But yes, something about Cait had in fact made Bianca want to open up. Whatever it was… it was beginning to make Bianca more and more uncomfortable by the second.

Reverting to her usual silence, Bianca strapped the bag back over her shoulders and beckoned with her head for the woman to follow her. Cait just crossed her arms and stood defiantly still. “General?”

“For fuck’s sa-”

“Then give me somethin’ I _can_ call you!” Cait retorted.

Bianca glanced back over her shoulder, regarding the redhead coolly. Names had power. There was a reason she’d been keeping Cait in the dark about who she was, but… the other woman knew now. There was no point pretending that she was somebody else. Whether Bianca liked it or not, this woman was no longer a stranger.

“Bianca.”

“Bianca?” Cait enunciated, purposefully butchering the vowels by thickening her accent. She smirked. “General Bianca, eh?”

With an irritable sigh, Bianca turned and continued walking. “Whatever.”


	4. Indebted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they grow to accept and tolerate each other over the space of a few weeks, Cait and Bianca come across an intriguing invitation for adventure.

Cait decided not to overlook the fact that her companion had attempted to open up to her. Even as they continued to travel, sweating and bleeding and struggling through the Commonwealth together; even as Cait continued to wake up sweating and aching at night, needing a shot – even two shots – of psycho and nothing else mattered; even as they spent as much time in silence as they did snapping at each other… Cait couldn’t quite forget that she’d learned a small truth about the other woman. 

Bianca wasn’t the mysterious ghost hero of the Commonwealth anymore. She was a woman with a history, a storyline, someone that Cait realized she had known before she even met her. She was the imposing, soothing voice on the radio, the slayer of the Commonwealth’s bogeyman, one of the reasons that the Combat Zone inhabitants had been that much happier in the month before they were wiped out. If they hadn’t been that happy, rejoicing the death of the Institute, they probably would have thrown Cait out or killed her with impossible odds in the ring. She’d been in the Combat Zone for three years, and she’d known the raiders – who had been there for two years – were becoming tired of her upper hand in the arena. 

Technically, Bianca had saved Cait’s ass before they even met. Therefore, technically, Cait should be thankful. She hadn’t quite gotten there yet, as the other woman’s silence and snappishness put her off. But she hadn’t forgotten. Maybe Bianca hadn’t really noticed the reduction in complaints during their journey, the extra effort Cait put in during battles, the increased use of muttered “sorry’s” and “thank you's” rather than denial or swearing, but all of it was evidence of Cait’s backing down and accepting the presence of her companion. 

And she hadn’t thought once about running away again. Despite the amount of trouble they’d gotten into within a month now, Cait felt safe with Bianca. The woman tried to act noncommittal and indifferent of her existence, but still she took care of her anyway. She’d swiped a sleeping bag for Cait somewhere along their journey so she had somewhere to sleep other than the hard floor; she’d always split the caps evenly, though she probably knew Cait would use it all on chems; she’d saved Cait’s ass countless times during battle, dragging her to safety, using precious stimpacks on her wounds. It was all getting rather comfortable. Weirdly comfortable, in a way that Cait had never, ever been. She was used to sudden change, being blindsided by the buyers of her contract. Honestly, she was still waiting for something from Bianca – something that would knock the wind out of her and remind her of the disappointment that she was. Deserving of the worst, as always. 

It still hadn’t come.

Which was why, after weeks more of following Bianca and her dog through the Commonwealth, working by her side, Cait finally worked up the courage to talk to her about it, eye to eye. The way a rational, truly confident person would do. The way that someone as falsely confident as Cait would find it hard to do.

It was a Wednesday during the first week of August, and they were spending the night out in the open, camping beneath one of the great crumbled highways. In unison, they’d gone about the routine of setting up camp: Cait had unrolled their sleeping bags and set about cleaning weapons and counting ammunition – skill-less jobs that she knew she could carry out to the highest of her ability. Bianca had built the fire and gone on patrol to set some traps, Dogmeat at her heels. 

When she returned, she removed her boots, her bandana and her glasses, and sat opposite Cait on the other side of the fire. It was only a week after they’d visited the Castle that Bianca had grown confident enough to uncover her face completely when in Cait’s presence. Perhaps she was no longer a threat. 

As usual, Cait found herself drawn to look at the woman’s striking face: high cheekbones, full lips, elegant eyebrows over deep hazel eyes. It was the sort of face that would likely be pretty whether it was dirty or clean, whether stained with blood or not. Which was good, considering neither them had much time to take baths. 

Cait was certainly beginning to enjoy travelling with such an attractive woman. She wasn’t a stranger to members of the same sex, though she’d never quite gotten close enough to another woman to truly explore the idea of “making love”. That’s how Cait had always seen it after her crappy experiences – with men, it was _fucking_ , and not often pleasant; with women, it was _making love_. Then again, Cait didn’t know how to do love. She didn’t know how to do soft, or soothing. All she knew was hard, rough, fast – and she knew it well. 

The idea of sex with Bianca was foreign, but Cait didn’t rule it out entirely. She was attracted to the other woman for sure, and it was times like these, where she saw her uncovered and near-vulnerable, eyes glued to the fire, that she wondered what it would be like. And it was on a usual day like today, where Cait would throw occasional flirtatious comments her way and the woman would bat them aside with mostly-disguised embarrassment, that Cait wondered if someday the toying might get somewhere.

But she wasn’t about to talk to the older woman about sex. Cait was confused about something else entirely. 

She cleared her throat very pointedly, having finished with the ammunition count, and Bianca glanced up, hazel eyes meeting electric green. They were both tired, but it occurred to Cait that she wasn’t the only one who had been suffering from nightmares. Even Bianca had the dark circles under her eyes and the pallid, gaunt look of someone who didn’t get much sleep. 

“Hmm?"

Cait swallowed. “I… I’ve got somethin’ on my mind.”

The other woman became alert instantly, the same way she did when they were about to head into battle – her features suddenly became taut, her eyes sparkling with energy, and she straightened her spine until it was as flat as a board. For the first time since they’d begun traveling together, this alertness was directed at Cait, which was enough to throw her off balance.

“Something wrong?” Bianca questioned. 

Hastily, Cait countered, “I dunno, _you_ tell _me_. After Tommy stuck me with you, I was expectin’ to hate your guts.”

Bianca raised an eyebrow – the only sign that she was taken aback by the aggressive turn to their conversation. 

Cait continued, “Not only because you agreed to pick up me contract, but because I was waitin’ fer you to order me around like hired help. Now… so far, you’ve been treatin’ me like a friend. Hell, you’ve been damn near _nice_ to me. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful… but your kindness is startin’ to make me wonder.”

Bianca continued to watch her without speaking, eyebrow still raised, chewing on her lip absently. Cait wasn’t quite sure how to go on, but she did. 

“If there’s anythin’ I learned at the Combat Zone, it was that nobody does things fer other people without expectin’ somethin’ in return.”

Bianca’s lips quirked upwards at the corners. “Exactly! Time to pay up.”

“Cute,” Cait grumbled. “Real cute.” But she was glad the woman had made light of the conversation, at the very least. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all.  


She forged on: “I spent three years livin’ in the Combat Zone. Smelt like puke and piss, but I called it home. I was makin’ a few caps, had me own bed to sleep in and three hot meals a day… then the raiders took over the place. You know that lot – they aren’t exactly what you’d call “the gentle type”.”

Bianca smiled faintly again, and Cait wondered what exactly she was doing to deserve it. 

“After they moved in, if you didn’t keep lookin’ over your shoulder, you were liable to get suckerpunched or robbed… or worse. Didn’t take me long to realize that I had to put my hard-earned caps to good use. Buyin’ friends was essential to makin’ life easier. So… I guess I’m waitin’ fer you to hand me a bill, you know what I mean?”

Bianca shook her head very subtly. “Don’t be ridiculous. I already got what I was expecting from Tommy.”

“Yeah, sure,” Cait said impatiently. “But how long till you decide that he didn’t give you enough? _That’s_ what I’m wonderin’.”

“Once I’ve set my mind to something, I’m not the kind of person to easily change it. Like I said, I got what I expected,” Bianca said firmly.

Cait sighed, reached for one of the dry pieces of tinder Bianca had left beside the fire, and tossed it into the flames, watching as they consumed it greedily. The conversation had taken a strange turn, and she was unsure of how to proceed. 

“I’ll tell you what,” she decided finally. “Give me time and I’ll think of somethin’ I can do to repay you. I’m not a rich girl, but I’m sure we can agree on somethin’.”

Bianca was silent for a while, and then: “Why are you so paranoid about debts?”

Not meeting the older woman’s eyes, Cait muttered, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Bianca didn’t question her further, but she did climb to her feet and gesture for Cait to move out of the way as she crouched by the fire. “I’ll do dinner.”

“It’s my turn.”

Bianca smiled a third time. “I know. What’re friends for?”

Cait didn’t know what to say, too shocked by her companion’s show of warmth and thoughtfulness to even come up with something sarcastic. 

Then Bianca spoke again: “I also recall you once saying that you’re… what was it? _‘Not me fockin’ chef’?_ ” She grinned at her terrible attempt at mimicking Cait’s accent while Cait just rolled her eyes. 

“Good try, genius.”

\---

Bianca didn’t quite remember at what point it was she began to fully tolerate Cait the way she tolerated Dogmeat and the other human companions she’d traveled with before. But she’d grown used to the loud, irritating, violent Irish woman quicker than expected. And she supposed they _were_ … friends, in a way. 

And Cait was by far one of the best fighters she’d traveled with, handy with both a gun and her fists, and not one to stick too close or seem overbearing. Much to her surprise, Bianca had soon found herself even enjoying the woman’s company – not when she was complaining, of course, but when she was concentrated and bad-ass in a way Bianca could respect. 

Since the Castle, they’d spent weeks heading back east again, back through the city in search of more settlements and more scum. They’d developed their own routine of setting up camp and sharing whatever loot they came across, be it caps, chems or ammunition. They’d even spent one day hiding from radiation in an old subway station while the Commonwealth buzzed with one of the worst storms Bianca had ever seen. Cait had suggested an old game of shoot the bottle, and they spent hours practicing their aim, shattering as many bottles as they could from across the station. Bianca may even have laughed for the first time in a while. 

And there were some of the stupid, insane things Cait said sometimes that made her smile despite herself – even the flirtatious comments, which had surprised her at first, had grown to be entertaining. She had great fun putting the other woman down in her advances, and Cait hardly seemed to take offense from anything. So far, their companionship was win-win. Bianca hoped it would stay that way.

Today was another of those scorching hot days, and they’d finally come out the other side of the city into the east, passing the tiny settlement at Oberland Station, crossing the river, and entering open space once again. Cait was sweating and had become increasingly sunburned, while Bianca had been smart enough to cover most of her skin. Still, she knew they’d have to stop somewhere in the shade at some point so Cait could catch her breath. The woman had great stamina, but she really wasn’t strong enough for long hikes. Bianca reckoned it had something to do with chems. 

It was while they were following the highway, sun-browned grass crunching beneath their feet, no life visible for miles, that Bianca’s radio suddenly caught a new frequency – a frequency she’d never discovered in these parts before. 

“What the hell is that?” Cait grumbled as they stopped, eyeing Bianca’s pip-boy. “Yer Vault computer actin’ up again?”

“No, it’s…” Bianca began twisting the dials, trying to tune into the frequency, and Cait watched in confusion until a sound suddenly began blaring out of the pip-boy: a song. A Nuka World song. 

Even before the war, Bianca had never visited the theme park that had been said to be one of the biggest and the best in the USA. It was a place of fun and games – one giant advertisement for Nuka cola, a drinks’ company that produced so many bottles before the war that they still existed now, two hundred years later. Hearing this jolly song on her pip-boy’s small radio, she was caught in the overwhelming sensation of nostalgia as she recalled listening to it on the radio in Sanctuary Hills about a dozen times - even watching advertisements for it on TV. 

“What the fock is that _noise_?” Cait muttered. 

Bianca would have replied had the song not faded out and a male voice with odd, overly-emphasized pronunciation come on to deliver a cheesy, obviously child-targeted invitation:

“ _Hiya, kids! Remember, Nuka World is only open for a few more weeks in October! Come down and see me and Kathy one last time before buckling down for the winter! Don’t forget to bring your empty bottle of Nuka cola and get fifty dollars off at the gate!_ ”

Cait and Bianca exchanged shocked glances. 

“ _So hop aboard the Nuka express and come and see the whole Nuka family while you still can!_ ”

Then, another voice, this one more business-like: “ _The Nuka Express is accessible through the Nuka World Transit Center. Parking fees will apply. Prices are subject to change due to end of season. Nuka World, Nuka Express and the Nuka cola characters are all registered trademarks of the Nuka cola co-operation._ ”

A sound click, and then the signal reset. Quickly, Bianca twisted the dials again to turn the radio off, glancing up at her similarly confused companion. 

“What the _fock_ was that?” Cait asked, seemingly lost for words. 

Bianca just shook her head, an idea rapidly forming in her mind as she recalled everything the radio broadcast had said. Rivers made of quantum; mountaintops of fizz; fun and games and rides... an unforgettable, refreshing vacation spot. _A world of refreshment_. The broadcast had been opened recently, that was for sure. So who was currently occupying the old theme park? And were they good or bad? Were they even still alive?

“It seems,” Bianca said slowly, “that Nuka World’s open. And I think I’d like a vacation.”


	5. Violence And Deception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait and Bianca find a few well-wishers waiting for them at the transit station and end up blowing their heads off.

Luckily, getting to the Nuka World Transit Center wasn’t too much of an issue – it only required them to continue travelling east. It was, however, outside of the Boston regions Bianca was accustomed to. Since stepping out of the vault, she’d purposefully stayed within the city she had lived and worked in before the war, and had never considered venturing outside of it.

Now, as she stood with Cait and Dogmeat at her side, staring down the transit center – a dilapidated, broken-down building surrounded by giant cola bottle statues – Bianca felt a little worried about what she might find beyond.

“Still lookin’ for that vacation?” Cait questioned lightly.

“Yeah,” Bianca sighed. “I guess I am.” She unslung the railway rifle from her shoulder and held it aloft with both hands, knowing it would be naïve not to expect danger where they were going. “Let’s go. And stick close.”

They approached the building warily, and as it got closer, Bianca could see just how rundown it had gotten: the Nuka World Transit Center sign, painted with bright primary colors, was strung with moss, bent inwards by the wind – and yet it was lit with spotlights, so someone had gone through the effort of turning the power back on. The once neatly-trimmed hedges had become hairy monsters bordering the estate, and the statues of famous Nuka cola characters Cappy and Bottle were overrun by scruffy bushes and weeds. The buildings inside didn’t look much better, paint peeling off the walls and all metal surfaces reddened with rust. Cait and Bianca passed under the sign and entered the transit center, sweeping their guns as they scoped the area.

It all looked empty. At least, that’s what Bianca mistakenly thought before Cait hissed her name, grabbed her arm, and yanked her into cover behind a rusted, wheel-less van. They crouched together side by side, and Bianca finally heard what Cait had before her:

“… _No one_ investigates that signal until this place is secure. If I see anyone violate protocol and enter that transit station before we’re set, I’ll have your head!”

The commanding voice was coming from several feet away, around the corner and next to the steps that led down into the transit center station. Someone was already here, just as Bianca had anticipated.

Cait turned to her and whispered, “Gunners.”

Bianca could only nod. They didn’t sound as batshit crazy as raiders, and they had someone telling them what to do – that meant they had ranks. Only the Gunners had the best of both worlds.

“Now, pick up the pace! I want to be able to report back to Cyprus ASAP!”

There was a lot of a grumbling, and then Bianca could hear footsteps heading in all directions – some even towards where they were hiding. And, accompanying them, the very familiar metallic noises of guns being checked and reloaded, caps and ammunition jangling in pockets. Bianca turned to her companion and saw Cait’s face already set in her usual anticipation. She may hate the raiders, but the Irish woman wasn’t so different from them herself – violence excited her, and she wasn’t one to avoid conflict. It was perhaps the sole reason she was so effective in battle.

Footsteps drew closer to their hiding place, and Bianca watched Dogmeat’s haunches rise as he let out a vicious growl.

“Huh?” The footsteps stopped.

Bianca didn’t wait for the closest Gunner to raise her gun – she sprung up from behind the van, rifle raised, and shot a railway spike right between her eyes, nearly sending the woman’s head flying from such close range. Crimson blood splattered like paint over her comrade, who yelled a warning to the rest of the Gunners and dove for cover.

Bianca began running without a second thought, trusting that Cait could take care of herself. She sprinted, bullets spraying the road around her and sending pieces of asphalt flying, finally skidding around a corner and flattening herself safely against the wall of one of the registration buildings.

She’d managed to map out just how many enemies they had: eleven Gunners had been in view, one assaultron. The robot was the real issue.

Bianca shrugged her bag off her shoulders and twisted automatically as one of the Gunners came sprinting full-speed around the corner towards her, arm braced in a power fist. With one long stroke, Bianca unsheathed Kremvh’s Tooth from its holster at her hip and swung it in a wide arc across the man’s chest. His army fatigues didn’t offer much protection against the radiation-coated blade, and he began bleeding almost instantly, torso cut wide open from belly-button to collarbone. Bianca sheathed the sword again as he crumpled to his knees, mouth set in a wide “O” of shock and pain.

In the distance, she heard Cait’s enraged shouting and Dogmeat barking like a feral mongrel, fighting off several Gunners at once. The Gunner beside Bianca uttered a small gasping sound and finally fell on his face, twitching in death, a pool of crimson slowly spreading beneath him. Bianca only glanced at him as she finally found what she’d been looking for in her bag and pressed the Jet inhaler to her lips, breathing deeply. Energy flooded her like a tsunami.

Railway rifle in one hand, deadly blade in the other, Bianca broke her cover at what felt like impossible speed, running straight into another Gunner – this one a man carrying a laser pistol. Bianca moved too fast for him to react, jamming the blade through his neck until it could go no further before slicing sideways and half-decapitating him. As the man dropped to the asphalt in two pieces, dead, Bianca quickly found a new target: she ran straight at the Gunner commander, a dark-haired woman in full combat armor and fatigues who had begun backing up just at the sight of her.

Before Bianca could make it up the steps towards her, something incredibly hard and metal slammed her from the side, sending her sprawling with such force that she skidded straight into a wall. Through blurred vision, her ribs and spine aching, Bianca heard the buzzing and whirring of robotic joints. She didn’t have time to climb to her feet before the assaultron was on top of her, a claw lifting her as if she weighed nothing and throwing her again against the wall.

“ _Fuck!_ ” she hissed, kicking at the armored metal body as best she could and quickly realizing that there wasn’t much she could do without her gun. She’d dropped both her weapons in the confusion and too soon the Jet was draining from her body.

The assaultron trapped her against the wall, drilling her into it so hard that she could barely breathe, its facial compartment opening to reveal the laser that could reduce her to nothing but ash in seconds. Bianca resolved to do the only stupid thing she had left in her arsenal.

As her vision blurred and her ears began to ring with the increasingly loud buzz of the automatron’s laser, and as her whole body ached from the pain of being pressed hard into rough brick, Bianca clasped her fingers around the round object at her belt, hooking her index finger through the pin and yanking upwards until it was free from the mechanism. Shutting her eyes tightly and releasing a yell of frustration, Bianca hard-pressed the grenade straight into the gap between the assaultron’s torso and its legs.

Everything went black.

 

 

 

Bianca came to, and her whole body was in agony. She was deaf apart from a deep ringing in her ears and could only see lights and shapes through her incredibly blurred vision. For a second, she was completely and painfully disoriented, gasping for air with lungs that didn’t work, blinking blindly, fingers clutching at nothing.

And then something sharp punctured her neck, targeting her jugular directly, and the most soothing sensation began to flood Bianca’s body. Her muscles relaxed, she let her eyes flutter closed, and she breathed a deep sigh of relief. Through the ringing, she realized she could no longer hear shooting – was it over? Had the fight been won?

Hands roughly grabbed her booted feet and began to drag her along the ground, and Bianca let out an involuntary gasp of pain. A wet tongue lapped her cheek as if to comfort her, then centered in on her forehead. The dragging stopped and Bianca lifted a weak arm to push Dogmeat’s head away from her.

“Stop that.”

A familiar gleeful chuckle. “Hey there, General. Feelin’ alright?”

Cait’s voice sounded as if it was coming for a distance, but it was reassuringly audible. Perhaps the grenade hadn’t deafened her, after all.

Bianca peeled an eye open, her vision having lost enough blur that she could see the freckled face grinning down at her. Cait had an incredibly swollen cheekbone – broken, perhaps – and blood spray all over her face, but Bianca decided she was truly a sight to behold.

“I’m alright,” she managed.

“Good.” Cait stood up, hands on hips. “I’d hate fer you to miss out on the vacation.”

Bianca forced herself to sit up, groaning, and examined her body, ensuring she at least hadn’t lost any limbs. Her leg was hurting like hell, and so were a couple of her ribs, but otherwise she seemed fine. Perhaps the grenade hadn’t been such a stupid idea, after all.

“You killed the rest of them?” she questioned.

“Yeah.” Cait was triumphant. “Never underestimate an angry Irish gal with a gun.”

Bianca decided to keep that noted. “Can you… help me up?”

Cait, in her usual rough manner, leaned over and grabbed her arms, yanking her so hard that Bianca almost fell over again. She steadied herself on one leg, Cait’s hand still supporting her, and tried to come to terms with how much time had passed.

“Is it-”

“You were knocked out fer less than five minutes, cap’n,” Cait informed her helpfully. “Just writhin’ about on the ground like some lunatic. And that was _after_ tryin’ to blow yerself up…”

“Right.” Bianca shook her head. “I guess we should keep going, huh?”

Cait narrowed her eyes as if she thought the other woman was joking. “I get yer tough shit, General, but no one can get much done on a broken leg.”

Bianca sighed. “What, so we camp here for a bit? Wait for more Gunners to come along and pick a fight?”

“Fer all we know, the Gunners’re the ones who’ve taken Nuka World,” Cait pointed out. “No safer here than we are in there.”

“Fine.” Bianca glanced around, taking in the scene. The Gunner bodies were littered all over the main courtyard of the Nuka World Transit Center, blood creating rivulets of crimson. The Gunner commander Bianca had failed to reach was impaled on the wrought-iron fence, which was impressive considering Cait’s lack of strength, and there were pieces of blackened assaultron sitting just about everywhere. They’d walked in and turned a childhood dream into a bloody battlefield.

“I’m fine,” Bianca said, as she realized Cait was still holding her arm.

The woman shrugged and let go. “I say we hole up in one of these buildings, give you another stimpack to stop the bleedin’ and maybe set yer leg… and then we go in guns blazin’.”

Bianca winced as she tested her broken leg – a stimpack couldn’t heal something that was so far out of place. “Sounds good to me.”

\---

Cait found it funny that Bianca was acting so grouchy about getting healed. She’d always pegged her as the patient type, but it seemed she may have been mistaken. They’d holed up behind a desk in one of the registration buildings and Cait had done her best doctor work by light of one of Bianca’s flares. Now, after a lot of shouting, swearing, and a punch that had left a developing bruise on Cait’s arm, Bianca’s broken leg was healing the way it was supposed to.

Dogmeat was chewing on an old Nuka souvenir toy, watching the two women as they sat side by side under the counter and shared a bottle of vodka. This had happened before, of course – they hadn’t managed to travel far in the Commonwealth without at least one of them getting seriously injured. The drinking and the resting was more like a routine than anything. Here, however, they found themselves far out of either of their comfort zones. Gunners could storm the building at any moment and they’d just be sitting ducks - Bianca especially would be unable to properly fend for herself. Cait supposed she could understand why Bianca was grouchy.

Once Bianca had fooled herself that she was able to at least limp a few steps without assistance, she was back in soldier mode. They left the building a couple hours after midday, moving slowly through the carnage they’d left, heading towards the main transit center building. Cait was making sure to keep vigilant in checking their surroundings, knowing that neither of them would fare well in a surprise attack. Luckily, no one leaped from any of the hedges or sprinted into the parking lot, weapons flailing. Cait and Bianca reached the transit center door safe and sound, and were about to head down the steps when Bianca abruptly stopped.

“What?” Cait stared at her, not recognizing the glazed, distant expression on what she could see of her face. “What is it?”

Bianca limped over to one of the overturned Nuka cola machines and plucked a full bottle from within, turning it over in her hands like it was a piece of gold. “Nuka orange,” she said flatly.

Cait frowned. “Nuka what?”

“Orange,” Bianca repeated, still distant. Then, as if she was educating a child: “Orange is a fruit, Cait.”

Huffing, Cait replied, “Fruit my arse. Can we go now?”

“I haven’t seen this flavor since… since before the war,” Bianca continued, as if Cait hadn’t spoken.

Cait sighed. “General, we’re headin’ into Nuka _World_. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I take that to mean it’s a _world_ of Nuka cola. Yer gonna have all the flavors you could ever want once we get in there.”

Bianca’s face retained some of its sharpness and she nodded, tucking the bottle away in her bag. “Sorry – let’s keep moving.”

They creaked the doors open, swept their guns inside, and then followed them. Within the building, there was the faint warm glow of fluorescent lighting and a tinny – rather irritating, in Cait’s opinion – tune playing through the speakers. Dogmeat was whining already, and Cait took that to mean that the mutt had sensed something in here.

Almost immediately once they’d stepped off the escalator, they saw a flannel-wearing man leaning against a crate beside the tracks, one hand pressed to his chest. He was bleeding.

“Jesus – _shit_. They’re gonna die…” he was wheezing.

Cait and Bianca shared a glance.

They approached, and once both had determined that there was no one else in sight, Bianca lowered her weapon and muttered, “What happened to you?”

“Raiders, that’s what,” the man gasped. “Those bastards have my family. You… you gotta help me. Please!”

“You look terrible,” Cait informed him, feeling as if she needed to say something.

The man coughed. “Tell me about it.”

Bianca regarded the man silently for a long second, weighing her options, and then declared, “I only help myself. What’s in it for me?”

Spoken like a true mercenary.

“I can pay you!” the man pleaded. “You bring them back safe, and I’ll give you everything I have! Just hear me out.”

A sigh. “Tell me what happened.”

“They fooled us… big time.” The man winced, shifting, hand pressing harder into his injury. “My family and I ran into some traders a while back… told us they knew a safe settlement… at Nuka World. But when we got there…”

“…You found out the bastards were raiders the whole time,” Cait finished for him dully. “Yeah, sounds like ‘em. That’s what trust gets you.”

“I managed to escape,” the man said earnestly. “But my wife and son are still back there. I wanted to get some help and go back for them, but didn’t count on taking a bullet.”

“So Nuka World is still up and running?” Bianca inquired curiously.

“I wouldn’t say it’s still running. The place is run down, but those raiders sure got it made. Plenty of supplies, clean water, guns… Oh God. I never should have left!”

“Yer family’s probably dead,” Cait pointed out. “Just hope you know that.”

“Don’t say that!” the man hissed. “I won’t give up on them – I _can’t_ … y-you’re here for a reason, right? You’ve gotta be!”

Cait examined his filthy face, the ragged hair and beard, the bloodstained flannel. He seemed truthful, though you could never really tell when raiders were involved. Cait wouldn’t help this man for a thousand bottlecaps.

Bianca took a deep breath. “For the caps… you got yourself a deal.”

Cait spun to gape at her companion. “ _What?_ ” she snapped.

“Oh, thank God,” the man sighed in relief. He leaned forward, a piece of paper held in his trembling hand. “Here, take this. It’s the password to the monorail control terminal. I shut the Nuka World Express down so those bastards couldn’t follow me, but you can power it back up in the office. Please… hurry! God knows how much time they have left.”

Bianca nodded curtly and stepped around Cait, heading towards the office with a new target apparently set in her mind. Cait, fueled by anger - and thanks to the woman's injuries - followed her and for once didn’t feel herself lagging behind.

“What the hell’re you doin’?” Cait growled.

Bianca shrugged. “He gave us a way in, didn’t he?”

“You heard him – there’s _raiders_ in there. The same deceitful bastards I’ve known fer most of me life. This could easily be a trap!”

“Cait,” Bianca sighed. “For the past month, we’ve been killing raiders to help people in the Commonwealth – what’s so different about this? And maybe you can’t, but… I can sympathize with a man who’s had his family taken from him.”

“Sympathize?” Cait repeated angrily, her voice echoing through the tunnel.

“Look, I don’t expect you to-”

“Gimme a stimpack.”

“What?” Bianca stared at her.

“Gimme a stimpack so I can show you what a bad idea this is,” Cait hissed, frustrated.

Nonplussed, Bianca stopped and took off her bag, handing over one of their valuable stimpacks from the front pocket. Cait took off immediately, striding determinedly back towards the bleeding man with a false smile on her face.

“Hey!” she snapped as she approached.

He looked up in obvious surprise. “Is there something-”

“Let us help before we go,” Cait said with over-the-top enthusiasm. She held up the injector with a smile. “Lookie here, I have a stimpack just fer you.”

His eyes widened imperceptibly. “No – no, I’ll be fine. Save it for my wife and kid, for Lisa and Cody.”

Slowly, triumphantly, Cait lowered her arm, hearing Bianca approach them hesitantly from behind. Even Dogmeat had his head cocked in their direction.

“I’m offerin’ you a way to heal yerself,” Cait said with a sly smirk. “Why pass that up?”

The man’s eyes shut tightly, and he drew his hand away from his chest. “Damnit. Look… you got me-”

There was a loud chugging sound as Bianca suddenly lifted her gun and pointed it straight at the man she’d previously promised to save. When Cait glanced over, the woman’s face was completely guarded. She grinned, victoriously right for once.

“Hey, hey!” the man exclaimed, jumping to his feet and raising his hands in surrender. “Fine, I ain’t injured, okay? The raiders back at Nuka World put me up to this!”

Bianca took a step closer and gestured with her gun – an obvious signal for him to continue explaining himself.

“They lure people in and they kill them for fun, and… and I’m done doing their dirty work!” he said, stuttering as he stared down the barrel of one of the most dangerous rifles in the Commonwealth.

“Sounds like typical raiders to me,” Bianca growled, her face unchanging.

“You don’t get it!” the man exclaimed desperately. “These raiders’re different. They make Commonwealth raiders look like a bunch of kids!”

Cait felt a frantic tugging deep down in her gut and did her best to ignore it. She knew raiders. She knew how disgusting, how fucked up they were. She’d been beaten, used, forced to submit to them for five years after her parents sold her into slavery. They were already bad, but _worse_? Was it possible that Nuka World contained a group of raiders that were worse than the ones Cait had had to deal with in her lifetime?

“You tried to lure me into a death trap,” Bianca said in a tight voice.

The man gulped. “I-”

“You’re _dead_.”

“Oh, come on – I was just doing my-”

Bianca silenced him with a brutal shot to the stomach – the railway spike tore through his internal organs and sliced out the other side, his blood spattering the concrete as he collapsed to the ground where they’d found him.

Cait whistled, impressed by her companion’s ruthlessness. “You sure know how to give a gal a good time, General.”

Bianca ignored her, approaching the man as he gaped, mouth opening and closing, both hands pressed to his rapidly-draining wound. “As far as I’m aware,” she told him. “You’re one of them. So I’ve given you the gift of making your con very, very _real_.”

The man died with his eyes trained in shock on Bianca’s face, slumping back against the crate. And it was then that Cait realized it was very silent – there was no more music.

“ _Well, well,_ ” came a disembodied voice. “ _That wasn’t very nice._ ”

Bianca jerked her head up and glowered at the ceiling.

“ _I’ve heard stories about you – Commonwealth savior, eh? Took down the Brotherhood and the Institute. Of the people, for the people, sounds like your kinda thing._ ”

Bianca straightened and looked across at Cait, both of them feeling that sense of wariness now. Not only had the music and the lighting been turned back on – so had the cameras. Someone was watching them very closely.

“ _But killing an innocent man?_ ” A chuckle. “ _You’re one ruthless son-of-a-bitch, aren’t you? Look, the monorail will take you to Nuka World. If caps and killing are your thing, I’ve got the offer of a lifetime for you_.”

Despite Cait’s trepidation to ever become involved with raiders again, she had to admit that it sounded tantalizingly fun.

“ _Only if you think you can handle it_.”

Cait snorted. “We’ll fockin’ handle it. Right, General?”

Bianca slung the railway rifle over her shoulder again, glaring at Cait. “What happened to this being a trap?”

“Listen,” Cait reassured her. “We blew their cover already. And like I said, I know these bastards. They won’t kill us if they reckon we’ll be a good fight.”

“And if that fight ends up with us dead?”

“It won’t.” Cait grinned. “Odds’re good, General. I say we have a very good chance at makin’ it out alive.”

Bianca removed her glasses and rubbed a hand over her eyes, apparently worn-out by Cait’s endless thirst for blood. “Cait, I feel the need to tell you this before we head in there and kill ourselves…”

“Tell me what?”

“You’re fucking crazy.”

Cait laughed gleefully. “You wanted a vacation,” she said. “Now stop fightin’ and let me take you on one.”


	6. The Gauntlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bianca and Cait struggle through their biggest challenge yet: a specially-crafted raider death trap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will likely be a few errors, and for some reason the formatting isn't working well, so I apologize for that. Enjoy anyway!

“ _Hello, and on the behalf of the Nuka-Cola Cooperation, we’d like to welcome each and every one of you aboard the Nuka Express monorail!_ ” came a cheery female voice through the carriage’s intercom.

Cait rolled her eyes and Bianca simply sighed. It was like being talked to by an incredibly enthusiastic ghost. None of this existed anymore. The Nuka-Cola Cooperation was rubble, and so was Nuka World. They were being welcomed by voices of the dead.

The train, since leaving the station, had passed what remained of Boston city as it headed towards the incredibly large, flat area of desert-like land upon which Nuka World had been built. There were no more buildings for about twenty minutes, only wasteland for miles through the monorail’s foggy windows. Bianca took a seat near the front of the carriage so she could make sure nothing happened to the steering system; Cait took to wandering up and down the carriage, kicking at souvenir toys and Nuka mugs, Dogmeat following closely behind.

It was once they had a full view of what remained of Nuka World that the intercom suddenly clicked on and a delighted female voice filtered out through the train’s speakers. Accompanying the voice was a flute melody similar to what they’d heard in the transit station. Annoying.

“ _For your own safety, please remain seated or utilize the provided handrails while the train is in motion.”_

Bianca took off her glasses solely to shoot Cait a pointed look. The other woman snorted derisively and finally took a seat across from her, hands restless in her lap. Through the windows was a golden world lit with mid-afternoon sun. For the first time, Bianca actually saw the Commonwealth and thought it was… beautiful. They were flanked by elevated highways and more monorail tracks on one side, while on the other was a full view of Nuka World’s expansive infrastructure: a whole town – a city, even –  surrounded by a concrete wall.

“ _If you’ll direct your attention to the right side of the monorail, you can observe Nuka World’s famous Fizztop Mountain! Standing at over 100 meters tall, Fizztop Mountain is the largest man-made structure in Nuka World, and features the five-star Fizztop Grille_.”

Cait grinned. “I’m likin’ the sound of that.”

They both gazed at the gigantic red bottle plastered to the side of a falsely snow-capped mountain. The structure was big enough that radioactive clouds had gathered at its base, misting nearby buildings and hiding them from view.

As the monorail grew closer and closer to the ground, more leaf-less trees and buildings began to whizz past the windows – but Cait and Bianca were only preoccupied with the approaching theme park.

“ _Coming up is the heart of Nuka World, Nuka Town USA, featuring the Cola-Cars arena, the Bradburton Amphitheatre, and the Parlor Dinner Theat-”_

The cheery voice-over was very suddenly overcome by a burst of static, causing both Bianca and Cait to stare at each other in confusion.

“ _Nice to see you’re taking me up on my offer_ ,” came the same jeering male voice from the transit station. “ _I only got a minute, so you better listen and listen good. The name’s Gage. Porter Gage. And the truth is that guy Harvey you offed was just a set-up to draw you into our little death trap_.”

Bianca tightened her fingers around the barrel of her rifle, clenching her jaw. She’d known even before killing the idiot that he wasn’t fully at fault for the deception. But she wasn’t herself. The traces of humanity she’d had after the fall of the Institute were miniscule, trapped somewhere deep inside her. Travelling with a violent chem-addict hadn’t helped her retrieve it – if anything, she was becoming more and more like Cait: reckless, careless, eager to spill blood. The deterioration of Bianca DeLuca was well underway.

“ _If you somehow make it through alive, I’ll give you the details on my offer. In the meantime… have fun and put on a good show. I’ll be watching._ ”

The intercom burst with static again as he went offline, and Bianca stood up from her seat, staring grimly out of the window as they drew in towards Nuka World station.

Making a final return, the perky female voice informed them: “ _We are now arriving at the station. Please be sure to collect any children and personal belongings before exiting the Nuka Express.”_

The monorail carriage slowed and screeched as it drew to a stop, entering the station. As the doors slid open, Bianca patted Dogmeat’s head and nodded at Cait. “Let’s do this.”

The train platform was littered with all kinds of rubbish: Nuka-Cade tokens, empty cola bottles, old tickets, plastic bags, someone’s ratty shoes. The large windows overlooking the Nuka World entrance were shattered and blackened with dust and sand, so they didn’t provide much light to see by. Lanterns sat by the stairs, setting the platform in a strange orange glow. The staircase itself had been transformed into what looked like the entrance to a raider den: corrugated iron, a few spikes, wooden boards painted crudely with signs.

The moment the companions stepped out onto the platform and took a look around, a different voice came over the station’s intercom:

“ _Attention all my favorite undesirables out there! In case you haven’t noticed, looks like we got ourselves some fresh meat to run the Gauntlet!_ ”

Cait suddenly looked a little hesitant. “I don’t like this… not one bit.”

“Well, it was your idea.” Bianca checked her ammo, tightened the straps on her bag, and then clicked for Dogmeat to walk at her heels. “Not going back now.”

They took the walk towards the “Gauntlet’s” entrance very slowly. Knowing the raiders, this trap would contain many surprises, most of which would catch them off guard despite their awareness in what was coming. As they headed down the stairs, they passed a hanging cage with a corpse still dripping blood and a large sign on the wall painted in white: GAUNTLET -->.

“Guess it’s this way,” Bianca said uneasily.

“ _Aaand she’s off!_ ” came the voice from speakers overhead. “ _Let’s hope our latest prey can draw inspiration from our previous victims!”_

“Fockin’ raiders,” Cait muttered as they passed through a hastily-constructed doorway and entered what once may have been a souvenir shop – though it was so bullet-riddled and broken-down now that Bianca couldn’t really tell.

Bullet-riddled, huh?

“Hang on,” she said, holding out a hand as Cait made to pass her. “Do you… hear that?”

They both strained to listen, and then a faint smile fluttered to Cait’s bruised face as she nodded. “Turrets?” she whispered.

“Yeah.” Eyes narrowed, Bianca lowered her rifle and unhooked her last fragmentation grenade from her belt. “A lot of them.”

Cait backed away and crouched by the long-dead body of another of the Gauntlet’s competitors, looking through its clothes and finally managing to come up successful. She uncorked the bottle of crude alcohol, sniffing it and grinning. “I’m thinkin’ it’s time for a cocktail.”

“Light it,” Bianca ordered, tossing her the gold-plated flip-lighter from her pocket.

Cait hastily ripped a sleeve from the dead man’s body and stuffed it into the bottle, still smiling as she half-soaked it in the alcohol and left one end of the flannel hanging out. She touched the lighter to the flannel until it was flaming and then passed the bottle to Bianca.

“Don’t miss.”

Bianca scoffed. “I never miss.”

She swung her rifle so it was across her back and no longer in her way and then took a hesitant step forward. At the end of the room there were two expensive-looking turrets – heavy laser guns, most likely. The louder engines she could hear were probably the standard machine-gun turrets, most of which were hidden behind bookcases and counters. Luckily, they seemed to be clustered along the walls. Bianca could take them out with the bombs and deal with the heavy laser turrets afterwards with her rifle.

Once the flame had burned down the flannel to the lip of the bottle, Bianca took a deep breath and tossed it with all her might into the gap between the bookcases on her left. The turrets shot at the handmade bomb before it touched the ground and it exploded in a ball of flames, sending pieces of metal and glass flying in all directions.

Bianca and Cait jumped for cover as the rest of the turrets began targeting them, aware now of their presence. Pulling the pin out of the fragmentation grenade and keeping the spoon held, Bianca crouched behind a pillar and waited for the turrets to finish their first round, wincing as pieces of plaster cut at her skin. As the machine-gun turrets behind the counter paused to reload, Bianca stepped out from cover and threw the fragmentation grenade straight at them.

Cait tugged her backwards to safety as there was another gigantic explosion, pieces of metal raining all around the room. About six had been taken down – now there were only the two trickiest turrets left.

Bianca, inhaling deeply, returned her railway rifle to her hands and then ducked around the pillar to face their final adversaries. She knew she had about a second until the lasers began raining on her again so she wasted no time in letting loose with railway spikes. Two caught the turret on the left, igniting the motor and making it explode; its explosion in turn knocked the other turret off the wall, and there was a resounding beep as it went offline.

The smoke cleared in silence, and Bianca lowered her rifle with a proud smile. “Done. Let’s go.”

Cait and Dogmeat ventured out from hiding, both grinning, and flanked Bianca as she walked calmly through the mess of the room and passed through the doorway at the end.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Cait said, sounding much more confident.

“ _Our new vic sure knows how to dodge some bullets!_ ” came the amused commentator from overhead. “ _Good thing that’s not all we got in store for her!_ ”

Bianca glared at the closest speaker she could see. Although she couldn’t see any cameras, she was well aware that the raiders were watching their progress. She didn’t like it.

They were in a dark, boarded up room now. The raiders, as always, hadn’t put much effort into their infrastructure. However… they’d done pretty well with traps. Bianca stopped very suddenly as her eyes picked up the thin wire crossing the hallway at ankle height. A tripwire.

“Flame-throwers,” Cait pointed out, gesturing around the room ahead of them. “Trigger that and we’ll end up resemblin’ a couple a over-cooked Salisbury steaks.”

“Just step over it carefully…”

“No need, General.” Cait crouched down at her feet, producing a small pocket knife Bianca had never seen before. She unscrewed the trip-wire box’s cover with the tip of the knife and tossed it aside, then used the blade to sever two wires with well-practiced precision. There was a faint beep, and Cait grinned. Glancing up at Bianca, she plucked hard at the wire with her fingers. Nothing happened.

“I’m pretty damn good, aren’t I?”

Bianca couldn’t help but agree – normally she just stepped over traps to avoid them. “Since when could you…”

“Always been good at stealin’ things,” Cait explained, straightening up. “Sometimes stealin’ things means dealin’ with traps. So I learned what I had to.”

“Huh. Well…” Bianca looked around the room. “…are you gonna disarm them all?”

 ---

By the time Cait had disarmed all the tripwires, they’d passed two more dead bodies, one a scavenger and the other a raider. It wasn’t so reassuring to see that so many had failed the Gauntlet so early on.

They passed up a set of wooden steps to the second floor, Dogmeat lagging behind, knowing somehow that his skills weren’t needed in this battle of the brain. He was very good at staying out of the way when he needed to.

“Careful,” Bianca warned as they came to a very unsteady bridge over a hole in the ground – all the raiders had done was place short boards over the gap, not bothering to nail them down. They crossed it slowly, avoiding the weakest boards, and then came face to face with their next obstacle: barrels of flammable substances, sitting in the middle of the room. And the floor was colored with rainbow traces of gasoline. It more closely resembled an electric oven than a room.

The commentator clicked on: “ _The vic’s still alive, but don’t let that get you down! The Gauntlet’s still got plenty in store for this one!”_

“Great,” Bianca growled. “Please tell me you know how to disarm grenade bouquets as well, Cait.”

Cait simply shook her head.

They edged around the hanging grenades, knowing that the slightest touch could make them explode and turn the building into a flame ball. As they passed out of the room, they could see that there was the exact same obstacle at the end of the hallway, only there was no space to edge around. Bianca rolled her eyes. “Get down.”

As Cait stepped behind her for cover, she aimed her railway rifle and pressed the trigger. The spike severed one of the strings and the grenade exploded instantly, the sound ringing through the hallway and sending splinters of wood flying in all directions. In a roar, the floor ignited as well and began burning viciously.

“Come on,” Bianca muttered.

They had to jump through the flames, patting down their clothes, but finally found themselves somewhere safer: a small room lit with a single hanging lightbulb. In front of them were three identical red-painted doors.

“ _Decision time!_ ” the commentator said gleefully. “ _All three doors lead to death. Some slower than others...”_

Cait sighed wearily. “One of ‘em better lead to a bastard we can kill.”

“Which one do you think seems less concerning?”

“I dunno,” she muttered. “The left one?”

“You sure?”

“No, I’m _not_ bloody sure, General!” she snapped. “But you asked me, didn’t you?”

Bianca sighed, leaning forwards carefully and turning the knob, flinging the door open with all her might so she could jump back at the first sign of danger. They both winced, expecting a projectile of some sort. Instead, they were faced with an empty corridor.

“Good job for not killing us, Cait,” Bianca said, pleased.

“Don’t thank me yet.”

They headed through into another, slightly darker doom, heading down some stairs – where Bianca stopped very suddenly. “Shit.”

They were facing a corridor lined with dozens of barrels of radioactive material. Bullets, fire, explosions… and now this. Long-term damage.

She unslung her bag from her back and rifled around until she came up with some Rad-X. “Here – take this.”

“We’re still gonna pick up rads, General,” Cait protested, but she did what she was told nevertheless.

Bianca injected herself, giving Dogmeat half a dose, and then put her bag back on. “Let’s make this quick.”

“ _Hope someone brought their RadAway, cause our little vic is about to get roasted like a squirrel on a stick_!”

“Shut up,” Bianca muttered. They walked until they entered a much larger room, complete with a desk and multiple piles of rubbish and radioactive material. A room that dealed more rads per second than even the Glowing Sea could. And there wasn’t much sign of an exit; the door they’d entered through had closed and locked behind them.

“Shit,” she cursed again, realizing too late that they’d walked into a deadly trap.

They looked around, frantic, as the rads continued to build up – Bianca’s Geiger-counter was beeping considerably faster than it ever had, and she could feel the discomforting tingling all over as the radiation began to affect her.

“There – door!” Cait snapped.

Bianca, seeing where she was pointing, sprinted over to their only exit, only to find that it was locked. And that the lock was way more complicated than anything she was able to pick. She retrieved a bobby pin and her screwdriver anyway, knowing that if she didn’t try, they’d have effectively given up after getting so far through the Gauntlet. The radiation was beginning to make her feel very nauseous, and her head was throbbing mercilessly.

“Let me know if you want me to help with that lock,” Cait said from behind her, sounding surprisingly calm.

“What?”

“Move.”

Bianca shuffled out of the way as Cait crouched by the lock, taking the bobby pin and screwdriver from her hands and concentrating, chewing on her lip in thought. It was probably the gentlest, most careful thing Bianca had ever seen her do: she twisted the bobby pin very slowly, ear to the door, until there was a resounding click. Then she spun the screwdriver and twisted the lock the rest of the way.

“Come on,” Cait grinned. “Not much of this shite left, I reckon.”

She kicked open the door, and Bianca and Dogmeat found themselves following her for a change. Bianca couldn’t help but smile in awestruck relief. It was now that she was starting to realize what a good idea it was to have Cait along with her while they paraded through a series of raider-manufactured death traps.

“Honestly, since when were you-”

“Gettin’ into places I’m not wanted is a talent I’ve acquired over the years,” Cait said. She frowned, apparently offended. “Don’t act so surprised, General. You’ve got your skills, I’ve got mine…”

“Right.”

The commentator spoke: “ _Someone thinks she’s a real tough gal, eh? But the Gauntlet ain’t through with her yet._ ”

They’d reached a room with caged walls and a concrete slope leading down into what looked like a maintenance area underground. Bianca reloaded her railway rifle, angrily pulling back the pin and bracing her finger against the trigger.

“And I’m not through with you.”

 ---

Cait was beginning to wonder just how long it took to build this death-inducing obstacle course. As they were faced with alien animatronics, a narrow plank bridge over an underground lake of mirelurks, a hallway filled with tripwires and explosives, and a room that slowly began to fill with poisonous gas, she began to understand what Harvey had said about these raiders being more superior to those in the Commonwealth. They had the brains and the patience to build something like this, after all.

And the Gauntlet still showed no signs of ending.

They finally emerged from the underground maintenance area covered in bruises, cuts and burns – but they were still alive.

“ _That’s right, vic!”_ the commentator said. “ _Breathe all that fresh air in… while you can_.”

And they did. They fought the cloud of giant flying ants that sprung from their nest the moment Bianca, Cait and Dogmeat passed. They shot at the raider participants through the cage ceiling when they found themselves under fire. They slipped through the open room filled with hanging grenades. And then they entered another building.

Bianca only had ten railway spikes left. Soon she’d have to start using that fancy sword she kept on her belt. Luckily, it seemed that they had only one more enemy to destroy, and this one much more tangible than grenades and turrets. For the first time since entering the Gauntlet, Cait and Bianca were able to see a few of the raiders who had put them through this.

“ _Well, I’ll be damned!_ ” the commentator exclaimed as Bianca and Cait determinedly climbed the stairs to the second floor of the Cola Cars Arena, glaring at what they could see through the windows. The arena itself was flooded with purple light, and a man in wired power armor was standing in the middle of it, facing them.

“ _You know what that sound means_ ,” the commentator said. “ _Get your ass down to Cola Cars, ‘cause the main event’s about to begin!”_

Cait stopped as they reached a locked security door at the end of the hallway, glaring down at their final fight in the arena. “Main event?” she repeated scornfully.

“Ah! There’s my next victim now. Don’t look like much.” The man in power armor grinned up at them. His accent was hard to place, and Cait was sure she’d never heard it anywhere before.

“Here’s a quick rundown of how this works: you go stock up and make yourself presentable, and then we’re gonna give these folks a show – a show where I decorate these walls here with your lovely brains.”

“Charming,” Bianca deadpanned.

“Thanks to this suit,” the man continued, “I’m the only one that wins this fight. Think you’re hot shit getting this far? Think again.”

He beckoned with a huge armored hand to a man in the control room. “Alright, Gage – let ‘em through.”

Gage? As in… the man who’d brought them here to give them an offer? Cait glanced at Bianca and saw the older woman had recognized his name too. What if there wasn’t an offer? What if it really had just been a trap, and something was about to happen that would leave them both dead no matter how hard they fought? Cait wasn’t foolish enough to think she was invincible, and she had no doubt that the raiders had something else hidden up their sleeve.

“We’ve gotten this far,” Bianca said, as if reading her mind. She took off her glasses and pulled down her bandana to bare that pretty face of hers, fixing Cait with a firm look. “If we’re about to die, I guess I should tell you something.”

Cait frowned in confusion. “Don’t tell me… you’re not a synth, are you?”

Shaking her head, Bianca let out a surprised laugh. “No, no – at least, I don’t _think_ so. Actually, I just wanted to set things straight. Back at the Combat Zone, I said I’d seen better when Tommy asked me about your fight.”

“Yeah.” Cait folded her arms, still not getting the point. Why drag up the dreary past between them? Sure, they hadn’t liked each other much at the start, but… things were okay now.

“Well, I actually thought you were pretty talented.”

“ _What_ , now?” Cait’s eyes widened. “You’re not fockin’ with me, are you?”

“I just figure it’s something you’d like to hear,” Bianca said, seeming a little embarrassed by her own bout of truth-telling. “You’re a little blood-thirsty sometimes, and you piss the hell out of me, but… I guess that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Cait smirked. “You don’t seem so sure, General.”

“Fine. It’s not a bad thing at all.” Bianca smiled. “Let’s just say I feel we have a chance to win this fight, rigged-up power armor and all. And that’s because I’ve learned a bit from you.”

Out of everything Cait had ever predicted Bianca would say, this was certainly not on the list. Their relationship had always purely been for business purposes – for survival. But it seemed Bianca no longer saw her as a contract. It was true: they really were friends now. And friends had each other’s backs. And… against all odds, Cait had actually managed to teach this ruthless killing-machine something, which was a true impossibility in itself.

Feeling much more emotional than she liked, Cait cleared her throat and muttered, “Thanks.”

There was a click and a hiss as Gage finally managed to open the security door, and they both stared down the steps that led to a changing room. And then, after that, an arena of doom beyond.

“Just so you know,” Cait said uncomfortably, “I’m not good at this emotional stuff. So while I appreciate-”

“It’s fine,” Bianca interrupted. “I’ve said all I wanted to say. Whatever happens, it’s good having you on the team, Cait.”

“Okay.” Cait swallowed. “Should we go?”

Bianca smiled at her – a full, friendly, open smile. “Sure. Let’s go.”


	7. Final Boss Overboss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bianca, Cait and Dogmeat wizen up for an impossible battle against the leader of Nuka World. And it isn't pretty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I had to re-write this after posting it, so the chapter has changed for those who have already read it. Might as well warn you too that there's a major character death at the end.

The moment they stepped into the changing room, the intercom panel on the wall burst with static and their raider friend came online to have a little chat.

“ _Alright, listen the hell up if you want to make it out of this alive. I’ve only got a minute. Find the intercom on the wall – I’ll make it quick._ ”

Bianca approached the panel and pressed the button, glaring at the speaker. “Who the hell are you, Gage, and why’re you helping us?”

Gage replied tersely, “ _I’m the guy that’s going to get you out alive. You make it through this and I’ll explain everything, alright? Now listen up-_ ”

“You want me to listen? Tell me _now_ ,” Bianca snapped. “What’s in it for you?”

“ _Alright, alright_.” Porter Gage paused. “ _It’s not just about what’s in it for me. Both of us reap the rewards if you pull this off._ ”

Bianca leaned against the wall, setting her jaw, and muttered, “I’m listening.”

“ _My kinda gal,_ ” Gage replied happily. “ _Look: you made it this far, you obviously got skill. But this fight coming up is rigged, you get me? Overboss Colter… his power armor’s set to draw energy from the electric grid in the arena. Damn thing’s invincible. You name it, someone’s tried it – grenades, miniguns… not a scratch. You get what I’m saying?_ ”

“That’s bullshit,” Cait growled.

A chuckle. “ _Right? That’s why you’re gonna do something about it. You want to win? I stashed a weapon in the lockers. Get it._ ”

After shooting Bianca an irritated glance, Cait began to search the lockers, banging doors and cursing. She finally came up with a small colored pistol in her hands, her face tight with anger.

“This is a fockin’ joke,” she muttered.

As Bianca took it from her companion’s hands and turned it over, her mind cleared the way for a mixture of shock and fury. Angrily, she pressed the button and demanded, “Is this a fucking squirt gun?”

Gage sighed. “ _Yeah, yeah, I know what it looks like. You’re just going to have to trust me._ ”

“Trust him?” Cait shook her head incredulously. “He’s kiddin’.”

“ _I’m not kidding, lady. It’s the perfect weapon. Once the water hits Colter’s electrically-charged power armor, the circuits are gonna short out. It’ll kill his defenses, but you’ll only have so much time to do some damage before they recharge._ ”

Bianca looked down at the water pistol uncertainly. It still seemed like the man was joking. She was going up against invincible power armor with a squirt gun. Even Cait looked a little sick, considering their odds.

“ _You take him out_ ,” Gage said, “ _and I promise you it’ll be worth every minute spent in this Gauntlet_.”

Mildly, Bianca quipped, “Staying hydrated is only half the battle, right?”

“ _He ain’t got a choice_.”

For sure, Bianca was going to die. She may have blown up a gigantic airship and destroyed a secret underground city filled with synths… but these were impossible odds in comparison. And she had no one to back her up but a mangy German Shepard, a worn-out Irish cage-fighter with a shotgun, and a strange raider sitting behind a control panel.

“ _It’s time_ ,” Gage said. “ _I’ll open the door. See you on the other side_.”

Bianca hurriedly checked her ammo and meds, knowing she didn’t have nearly enough to aid her in a fight against a raider boss in power armor. Right now, she needed a miracle, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to get one.

“I reckon we might as well go out fightin’,” Cait commented, not offering much help at all.

Bianca said nothing, clenching the water pistol in her hand like the useless child’s toy it was. Now they would see if it truly was a super weapon – and if it was, whether it would even help them in the battle to come.

“I just… need a sec,” Cait said suddenly, and then darted further into the changing rooms where she couldn't be seen. While Bianca knew she needed privacy, she also knew the woman would be taking yet more psycho to keep her going, which she didn’t entirely approve of. Then again… if they were about die, they might as well do it in style.

Bianca had only a few inhalers of Jet left – four, to be exact. And she would need at least one for the fight. While she waited for Cait, she injected some Med-X, chewed on the last two Mentats she owned after tossing the box away, and took some Buffout for good measure. She was all set.

When Cait returned, she had a crazed look in her eye and a bloodthirsty grin on her face. For a moment, Bianca wondered if this was how the woman had always felt before entering the Combat Zone arena each day. And she… pitied her. _Really_ pitied her. Because this wasn’t a human feeling at all.

They didn’t both need to die today, and Bianca wanted to tell her that, but she knew she’d never be able to convince the other woman to step down from a fight. Bianca crouched down beside Dogmeat instead and murmured, “You gonna stay here, buddy?”

As if he understood her, he let out a warning growl. Suppose not. And who was she to stop the little bugger after all they’d been through?

Together, they all strode through a hole in the changing room wall and found themselves behind another locked security door next to the arena. All the seats in the makeshift raider audience had been filled by now, and there were crazed raiders pressed up against the wire-fence separating them from the coming battle, jeering and shouting insults. They were a truly terrifying sight to behold.

“Alright!” Overboss Colter yelled once he saw Cait and Bianca standing by the gate. “Disciples! Are you ready for blood?”

A resounding cheer from the stand nearest them, and a chant that got louder and louder: “…death, death, death…”

“And the Pack! Are you ready for things to get wild?”

The enthusiastic howling caught Bianca by surprise – the raiders in the middle stands were pounding on the wire fence like animals.

Overboss Colter was drinking it all up, raising his arms. “Operators, are you ready to see me notch another kill?”

Cait chuckled in amusement as the furthest stand from them only delivered half-hearted applause. Those were the only raiders actually sitting in their seats, and they didn’t seem quite as amused as their brethren.

“It’s not just one gang,” Bianca said, realizing. “This is a raider _coalition_.”

“Yeah, whatever – let’s just kill their trailblazer, shall we?” Cait muttered.

“And _you!_ ” Overboss Colter said, finally facing the two of them at the gate. “Are you ready to die?”

The security gate swung open with a bang, and Bianca flinched, raising the water pistol. She felt like an idiot, pointing it at a hulking man suited in indestructible metal. But she didn’t have many other options.

With a yell, Cait sprinted forward and dove into one of the old Cola Cars while Bianca began to shoot the water gun. The sprays of water hit the Overboss from afar, and he didn’t quite seem to realize what was going on at first – and then, with a laugh, he raised his gun and began to shoot back in Bianca’s direction.

There was a loud sizzling sound, Overboss Colter’s armor flashing so bright Bianca had to cover her eyes, and then he screamed. “What the hell? Is that a water gun?”

Now was their chance.

“Cait!” Bianca yelled.

The Irish woman had already thrown herself out of the car, sprinting and shooting at the same time as she approached the raider in power armor. While her bullets didn’t do much to him, they were at least breaking the armor little by little. Bianca followed her, letting loose with her railway rifle as the man stumbled out of the way. One of the spikes caught between the helmet and the torso, stopping before it reached the man’s neck, and he didn’t seem to notice – all of a sudden, there was a loud crackle of electricity and the energy swarmed his armor again. The crowd cheered so loudly it shook the stadium.

Cait and Bianca dove for cover as the man fired back at them with a vengeance, angry now that they’d detected a vulnerability. Bianca retrieved the water gun again, keeping hidden behind a Cola Car and waiting for an opportunity. Unfortunately, the man had already detected where Cait was hiding. Bianca heard a shout of pain as undoubtedly she was hit by one of his snub-nosed bullets – the most dangerous, as they got lodged inside you – and then again, as if he had her cornered and was just shooting at her mercilessly. One more bullet, and Cait likely wouldn’t survive to tell the tale.

Bianca straightened up and took aim a second time, shooting water at him while his back was turned. He turned to face her, but too soon the armor had short-circuited again, sending him reeling backwards in pain. Bianca took a running jump, sword in hand, and grabbed hold of the cage panel fused onto his armor, hacking at it like a madwoman. She was too close for him to shoot her, so he simply began batting at her with his giant metal fists.

Bianca heard rather than felt one of her ribs crack – she was too focused on destroying this man before his armor recharged itself again.

Suddenly, Dogmeat was below her, barreling into the man’s leg and trying to bite at him. While his teeth weren’t making much of an impact, he’d at least caught the man’s attention for a moment. The crowd was chanting, but she wasn’t sure who for.

In the spur of the moment, Bianca caught sight of something which she wouldn’t have if Overboss Colter had managed to throw her off: the railway spike still lodged in the crack between his helmet and torso. Her one ticket out of here. All she needed was another open window.

Hastily, she let go of the man’s power armor and rolled out of the way as it crackled with electricity once again. Dogmeat whimpered as he began to back away too late and caught the current, sent flying across the room with one rough kick from the man's armored boot. There was a loud whimper, and the crowd broke out in amused laughing and cheering; Bianca felt all the breath leave her at once. She skittered to the side to avoid a volley of her assailant's bullets, catching sight of the dog lying on his side by the arena's entrance, un-moving and hardly breathing. 

" _Dogmeat!_ " she shouted fearfully, much to the audience's amusement - they jeered at her, chanting for her death. 

Dogmeat had been there from the start. He’d been there since the vault, and he’d followed her through the Commonwealth for months without complaint. He’d been there when she joined every faction, he’d been there when she’d assassinated her husband’s killer, he’d been there when she said goodbye to the Commonwealth and entered the Institute via molecular relay for the first time… and if he was dead now, Bianca didn’t even know what she would do. All of a sudden, she felt too vulnerable to win this fight.

Fueled by panicked anxiety, she drew one of the Jet inhalers out of her pocket and breathed in the drug, taking advantage of the speed it gave her as she leaped out and sprayed the Overboss right in the helmet with her squirt gun. Again, there was a loud sizzle and bang as the suit short-circuited and he was forced backwards in his tracks. The crowd cheered like they had the first two times, though it was hardly anything surprising now. They were all waiting for the end to come.

Overboss Colter tried to shoot at her as she ran at him, and Bianca felt a bullet pierce her side, but she didn’t stop. Nothing would stop her now. Again, she took a running jump, and this time forced her elbow hard onto the edge of the railway spike, driving it home into the man’s neck.

His scream of pain and shock was enough to tell her she’d succeeded in her mission.

Bianca let go of the armor and allowed herself to drop to the ground as the gigantic man took a few stumbling steps backwards and then crumpled like a lifeless doll. Dead.

For a long moment, there was a shocked silence punctured only with startled gasps. Bianca straightened slowly, ensuring the Overboss was well and truly dead before she turned to glance at the audience.

The crowd let loose a wild, inhuman noise. Fists banged on the wire gate, feet stomped on wood, glasses broke. Their invincible Overboss had been slaughtered before their very eyes, and Bianca wasn’t sure whether they were enraged or excited. Either way, all she could think about was Dogmeat. Her faithful, beautiful, loyal dog, who had tried to protect her at the worst possible time.

And yet, the moment her eyes landed on Cait, she was the first companion she was running to. The Irish woman was lying on the floor, gasping, eyes staring up at the ceiling. As Bianca kneeled beside her, she could tell she was in shock from the dilated pupils and the twitching fingers. Pressing both hands to her bruised face, she snapped, “Cait, stay with me!”

The woman’s eyes focused on her, bloodshot and panicked, and in them Bianca saw an incredible fear of death – the sort of fear you only saw in the eyes of people who put all their energy into surviving. Cait was a survivor through and through. Now, she was furious and helpless, frustrated at how little life had offered her. It was obvious she’d been through plenty of shit, and to have it end now was almost like a joke.

“You’re not gonna die,” Bianca muttered, pulling a stimpack from her pocket and injecting it straight into the jugular, like Cait had done for her after the battle at the transit center. While the stimpack couldn’t heal her until the bullets had been removed, it would at least keep her conscious and stable.

Then Bianca stood up and sprinted over to Dogmeat’s body, aided by the noise of the jeering crowd as she found him lying by the entrance, unmoving.

Dead?

Her throat closed up as she crouched beside him, gingerly stroking a hand over his soft head. “Come on, buddy. You’re not done yet.”

He whimpered, and she could smell the harsh odor of roasted flesh. And she knew he must have some bones broken. If he died…

She didn’t want to think about it at all.

“ _You saw it!_ ” Gage shouted over the intercom. “ _We all saw it! Colter’s dead! We got ourselves a new Overboss_.”

Bianca didn’t even entirely understand what that meant. She only knew that she was exhausted and worried, and somehow – just somehow – she had a feeling this fight had been critical for one of her companions. She’d had a sense even before the battle that one of them wouldn’t make it out alive.

Dogmeat was still whining, and Bianca hurriedly tucked his heavy body in her arms and carried him over to where Cait was still lying. The woman was still just staring at nothing, fingers twitching, covered in her own blood. She needed medical assistance immediately, needed those bullets removed from inside of her. Bianca was faced with a sudden and terrifying dilemma: she had one stimpack left. And both of her companions needed it.

“This girl?” yelled the leading member of the Pack. “Are you sure, Gage?”

The Disciple leader snapped, “You better know what the hell you’re doing!”

“ _Hey, we talked about this_!” Gage protested. “ _She survived the Gauntlet. She was smart enough to take my advice, and strong enough to kill Colter. She’s what we need. How about some respect for our new leader, eh?_ ”

Bianca didn’t look up, even as she understood what he was saying, and what his offer had been all along. She was too busy retrieving Cait’s pocketknife from her pocket and sterilizing it with the flip lighter. Two snub-nosed bullets buried in Cait’s gut and only a pocketknife to get them out.

“Shit,” she whispered. “This is gonna hurt, alright? Don't move.”

She partly unbuttoned and peeled up the woman's corset and wasted no time digging the searing point into her first wound. The crowd was watching her – they were watching the killer of their leader save her friends. They were getting the show of a lifetime. Cait's eyelids flickered, and her bloodied hands pressed flat against the ground as she let out a groan of agony. 

“ _Our new leader will get respect when she earns respect!_ ” the leader of the Operators shouted. " _Look at her - she hasn't even acknowledged her win!_ "

The first bullet took a lot of rifling around, and Cait was letting out a low wheezing noise, eyes tearing up. Bianca finally managed to lever it out with the tip of the pocketknife, letting it clink to the ground. She started on the second immediately, ignoring the crowd’s jeering and Gage’s desperate attempts to get her attention.

“ _Alright, alright, now get the hell out of here!_ ” Gage snapped to the audience, finally realizing he was wasting time trying to get Bianca’s attention.

The second bullet came much more easily, but Bianca had to use her fingers to drag it out of Cait’s body – at which point the woman had passed out, bleeding like a fountain. “Shit, _shit_ …”

Without thinking, Bianca grabbed the last stimpack and jabbed it into Cait’s jugular again, injecting the precious medicine into her bloodstream. Without it, the woman would die, and somehow Bianca just couldn’t let that happen. Not now; not anymore. She’d never seen her companion look so vulnerable before – more like a girl than a woman. Someone who had flirted with death many times but never been taken by it. Bianca felt an odd sense of protectiveness over her, a feeling that she needed to keep this woman alive at all costs.

Perhaps that was why it was Dogmeat who would die. She'd only been able to protect _one_ of her companions.

Dogmeat had become silent while she performed her emergency operation on Cait, and Bianca stroked his poor head again as his eyes searched her in their usual adoring way. Even though he was in pain and some animal sense probably told him he was dying, even though Bianca had chosen not to give him medication and let him live... he still loved her unconditionally, automatically, without question.

Beautiful goddamn dog.

"I'm so sorry, boy," she whispered. Again, she recalled that he'd been by her side from the start: he had killed for her, kept watch by her every night, comforted her when he sensed she was upset. And she'd been upset many times during that first month in the Commonwealth. It was only now, as she stroked the crown of his head and he slowly died in front of her that she realized she had changed beyond recognition. What she felt now didn't feel like grief; it felt like she was finally tearing apart from within, like she was ruining herself irreparably. She'd lost Shaun; she'd blown up the Institute with him inside it. But that hadn't made her cry.

And she wasn't about to cry now, either.

Dogmeat made an effort to lick Bianca's hand, but his tongue simply lolled out of his mouth, too weak to cover the distance. His eyes were becoming glassy, and his breaths were coming in short pants.

"I'm so sorry," Bianca whispered again, her eyes sinfully dry. She continued to stoke him, continued to comb her fingers through warm, soft fur, as the dog slowly became still. He wouldn't move anymore.

Bianca wiped her face with hands that were slick with blood, realizing that the arena had grown more and more silent as she sat there - most of the raider audience had left. She was hollow inside - no beating heart, no breathing lungs. Nothing. And she couldn't fucking cry. Even as the grief continued to grow and bubble inside her, filling that hollow space completely and making it hard for her to concentrate on anything else.

The man who had put her through this, who had effectively caused the death of her most faithful friend, was standing a few feet away, watching impassively. He made no move to speak to her, simply kept his distance.

Dogmeat's eyes were still open, and all Bianca had the energy to do was turn away, searching for comfort in the strange place she was in; the alien world that she'd become part of. Cait's breath had evened out, and she looked quite peaceful, eyelids fluttering. Bianca stared at her and then slowly reached down and took one of her hands in her own, realizing that the only comfort she had left was _her_. The only real, familiar thing she'd exited the Gauntlet with was Cait. She clenched the woman's fingers tightly in her own, relishing the feel of alive human warmth.

And then she let go.

Very slowly, Bianca stood up and looked narrowly at Porter Gage. She'd wiped her face clean of emotion, knowing that the only way to deal with raiders was straight-forward and ruthless. Bianca was no more than a robot now, nothing more than a machine that could replicate human feelings but never truly feel them. She should be broken completely after the deaths of so many loved ones, but instead she felt _angry_.

Incredibly, sickeningly, agonizingly angry.

"So I'm the boss now?"

The man grinned - he was wearing rusted armor and a mechanical eyepatch, but he didn't look so much like a typical raider. "I hear there's a vacancy."

"Then you better take me to a fucking bed and take care of my friends before I put a bullet in your brain," Bianca said flatly. "Because I'm not in the mood for a celebration."

"Hey, hey - I didn't say it was gonna be easy, did I? I ain't the enemy, here," Gage said, holding his hands out to calm her. 

"My friend and I need medical attention. Get us some. And I need a shovel." Bianca tried not to think about how much the idea of burying Dogmeat nauseated her. But she had to do it sooner rather than later. She had to do it _now_ , and she had to find somewhere to be alone before she broke to pieces completely afterwards. 

Porter Gage hesitated, but only for a moment. "You got it, boss. Guess we'll do the tour later."


	8. Survival of the Fittest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait and Bianca, while partly mourning the death of faithful companion Dogmeat, appreciate the new digs together. Cait still wonders at Bianca's intentions.

Cait awoke in a strange place – which she had been doing for the past month, anyway. But this was significantly different.

She was lying on a soft mattress with a down blanket pulled up to her chin, and bright sunlight was bathing her skin with a buzzing warmth. She attempted to roll over to avoid it, but there was no escape. The sun was right over her, it seemed.

When Cait opened her eyes reluctantly, she saw a chipped and dusty ceiling above her, and beside the bed was a nightstand with an ashtray and a lamp on it. An ashtray with no cigarettes and a lamp powered by no electricity. Just there for decoration. Like the old carpet under the bed, Cait supposed, and the abstract painting on the wall behind her.

Cait’s mouth had the feeling it was filled with cotton, and her joints were stiff and aching. She sat up suddenly, eyes searching the room, and was shocked to find herself in what looked like someone’s home: it was a bachelor pad built out of what used to be an old bar. Mismatched items on all the shelves, tables covered in magazines and candles, shelves behind the bar stocked with alcohol, food and chems. And there were no windows, which explained the sun’s intimidation. Cait was looking out over Nuka World – or, more specifically, Nuka Town USA – where the Gauntlet had ended. And she was sitting in the rather stylish house of one of the raiders who inhabited it.

Cait threw off the blanket and jumped quickly to her feet, only to be hit with a sudden bout of dizziness. Someone had switched her corset for a clean white t-shirt and her trousers for a pair of jeans. Her skin looked scrubbed clean, and her face, when she touched it, was no longer bruised or scratched. And she felt like she’d been sleeping for days.

Cait was thirsty, dehydrated, but she knew what her body really needed. After searching around in frustration and not finding her bag, Cait padded over in bare feet to the stocked-out bar. The sun was just rising, really, so Cait could tell it was morning – she didn’t dare venture too far out onto the balcony in case raiders could see her, but she did wonder why they had put her up here. And where had they taken Bianca?

Had they even won the fight? What if… what if Bianca was dead?

It didn’t bear thinking about.

If Bianca was dead, then Cait was here, healed, because they’d decided they would keep her as a slave. Cait had spent five years earning caps just to not be a slave anymore. She’d almost killed herself plenty of times after being used by countless men, after being beaten and whipped for no reason, after being force-fed all kinds of chems just so that her slave-owners could laugh at the side effects. Stealing and addiction was all that kept her alive for five long, hellish years.

If Cait ever found herself back there again, she would not hesitate to pull the trigger. Even though they’d given her a fancy bed in this nice apartment, she knew she wouldn’t allow herself to return to that life for one second.

Cait entered the bar and began searching the shelves, finally finding what she was looking for: psycho applicators. She collected all of them and took them back to the bed, feeling weakened just by walking around. There were five in total. Cait applied the first one where her arm was most heavily scarred – in the crease between forearm and bicep. Some of the scars healed with a good old stimpack, but most didn’t. But Cait didn’t much care how psycho looked, only how it felt.

The psycho flooded her veins and she was filled with an extraordinary energy, but it wasn’t enough. Her fingers clutched desperately at another applicator as she injected a second dose into her arm.

Her heart sped up to the point of throbbing in her ears and her head, and she let out a hiss of approval. Two felt _good_.

Cait grabbed a third applicator and held it to her right arm instead, grinning to herself as she sent a third dose of the powerful drug into her bloodstream. Her lungs were laboring, and her heart was fluttering, and her muscles were spasming and twitching, but Cait felt better than she had earlier. Than she had _ever_. When she was on psycho, she didn’t worry about whether Bianca was alive or dead. She didn’t worry about what raiders could do to ruin her. She didn’t feel burdened by the psychological scarring of her past.

Three psycho shots in one morning? A new record. Perhaps she was building resistance to the drug.

All of a sudden, there was a loud _DING!_ as the elevator in the corner of the room slid open. Cait jumped to her feet, twitching, ready for a fight.

The relief she felt was ten times as powerful from the psycho as Bianca strode into the apartment, heading straight for her. In her impulsive state of drug-induced deliriousness, Cait almost felt like running over and hugging her for not leaving her in a world full of raiders. But she settled for a wide grin instead.

The woman wasn’t wearing her sunglasses or her bandana, and her eyes looked incredibly tired, but she seemed pleased that Cait was no longer sleeping.

“ _Damn_ it’s good to see you,” Cait said, raking her eyes hungrily over the woman’s form as she approached, checking for injuries and smiling even wider when she found none. Still in her BOS uniform and heavy armor, but nevertheless a beautiful sight to behold. And she wasn’t dead, which was a plus.

“You too.” Bianca examined her face and dropped her eyes to where Cait was pressing her hand to her arm, hiding the new injection points. Then her eyes drifted past to the bed, where the psycho Cait hadn’t used was still scattered on the mattress. As usual, she decided to ignore the secrecy, apparently deciding it was none of her business. Silently, Cait thanked her.

“So what happened?” Cait questioned. “What the hell is this place?”

Bianca strode over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass off the counter. As she poured, she muttered, “We’re in Nuka World, remember?”

“I know, genius… but-”

“The shorthand of it is I’m now the new Overboss,” Bianca said, chugging back the contents of the shot glass in one swallow and turning to face Cait. “Just finished a tour of my new kingdom.”

Cait was speechless for the first time in a long time. She could hardly fathom what Bianca’s words meant.

“You mean to say yer the Overboss of… of _all_ the raiders in Nuka World?”

“Seems so.” Bianca calmly poured herself another glass of whiskey. “I met with the leaders of each raider clan this morning, and they weren’t convinced of my ability to lead. Which is… unfortunate.”

“How many?” Cait climbed onto a stool beside her friend, now wildly curious. “How many clans? Leaders?”

“Three.” Bianca gulped down the whole glass of whiskey and then poured herself another morosely. “Nisha, leader of the Disciples – probably bathes in blood every morning. Probably a cannibal. Probably likes torture more than anything else.”

Cait had known raiders like that. “Go on.”

“Mason’s the leader of the Pack – those were the raiders who were acting like they belonged in a zoo during our battle with Colter.” Bianca shrugged. “He seems very hippie, but doesn’t give me that laid-back peace-out vibe.”

“Third one?”

Bianca smiled tightly. “Mags Black. She and her brother lead the Operators, who’re the more civil raiders you’ll find around here. Like to be sneaky, manipulative…” Bianca sighed again. “Let’s just say they all made an impact.”

“And… how many are there? Raiders, I mean?”

“Oh, plenty,” Bianca muttered. “It’s fuckin’ Diamond City for raiders.”

She made to pour herself another glass, and Cait watched silently as she knocked it back. How many was that now? Three? Four? She’d never seen the woman quite so openly bothered about something.

And then she noticed what was missing.

“Wait a sec…” Cait stood up from her stool and stared around her, frowning. The apartment was silent. There was no panting, no sounds of teeth chewing a dead rat or a rubber toy. Nothing. No Dogmeat.

Cait stared at Bianca, who in turn stared down at her glass of whiskey.

“Where’s the dog?” she ventured carefully.

Bianca shook her head very slowly, almost as if she didn’t want to disturb the air. Almost as if she would break if she did it any more emphatically.

Cait’s eyes darted to all the little details: the bloodshot hazel eyes, as if she hadn’t slept for days; the dirt under her fingernails that she hadn’t washed out; the bruises and cuts still on her face that hadn’t been stimpack-ed away.

To her surprise, Cait felt her stomach drop in that rather unpleasant feeling of loss.

Cait didn’t identify with animals. Nor did she identify with robots, or with super mutants. If they weren’t human, they didn’t have the same emotions; they didn’t experience the same sort of suffering. Cait had suffered her whole life at the hands of other human beings, but at least she knew they had the ability to suffer too. 

This was why, although she didn’t hate settlers, she despised helping them. _She’d_ never gotten help from someone like Bianca when she was in trouble; she’d been completely alone for most of her life, and her survival had been completely in her own hands. _She_ hadn’t had the chance to depend on somebody else.

Cait reserved the same spite for animals, and for synths – creatures that required saving because they simply weren’t strong enough to save themselves like she had since she was a little girl.

But… Dogmeat, despite being a stinking mutt among many things, had still belonged to Bianca. And he’d even saved Cait’s life a few times. The confirmation of his disappearance – his death – affected Cait in a very unexpected way.

As Bianca made to knock back yet another shot before noon, Cait reached out and stopped her, hand hesitant on her arm. “I’m sorry, Bianca. He was a good dog.”

“He was.” Bianca’s voice broke, and she tried to hide it by clearing her throat. They sat in silence for a while, Cait’s hand still resting on her armored forearm. She felt jumpy and unsettled by the psycho, but she refused to break contact. It was that simple pressure that was anchoring her to humanity right now, and Cait didn’t want to lose it.

“I think that’s the first time you’ve actually used my name,” Bianca muttered lightly.

Cait allowed her a small smile. “Like I said before, I’m not good at emotional stuff. But… I can make an exception.”

“Thanks.” Bianca set the shot glass down on the counter and Cait retracted her arm to give the other woman some space.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

Cait didn’t push her. Of course she didn’t. This was unchartered territory for her, trying to make someone else feel better. She didn’t even know what had happened to the dog – she could only assume he’d died in the fight against Colter. She nearly had, too. Supposedly she’d just been lucky enough to survive.

Or… Bianca had thought her important enough to save her life over the dog’s. And she’d loved that bloody dog.

Cait wasn’t sure what to believe. She’d never traveled with someone like Bianca, and it continued to make her wary. Her old contractors never treated her like an equal, with respect, and they’d always hinted they’d leave her for dead if she became too sick or injured.

 _Survival of the fittest_ was Cait’s mantra.

Bianca was introducing a whole new dynamic which was changing the ways Cait thought and felt. This was her favorite contract by far. And she hoped – _God_ , she hoped – that it would last a while. Even if she got annoying and Bianca wanted to shoot her in the kneecap, Cait hoped she’d at least be able to continue to be her friend. Because, rather than pure survival, that was what she lived for now.

Since Cait couldn’t comfort her friend, she stood up, walked around the bar, and collected a shot glass for herself. Bianca watched with her chin resting on her fist as Cait poured herself a glass of whiskey and then raised it to eye level.

“To Dogmeat?”

Bianca blinked hard, almost as if she was surprised, and then her mouth curved faintly into a sad but grateful smile. She raised her own glass, clinking it against Cait’s.

“To Dogmeat,” she said.

They both threw the liquor back, Bianca with hardly a change in expression, Cait with a smirk as the alcohol enhanced the effects of the psycho.

When she set the glass down, she took another look around the apartment. “So this is yer place, now? Since you’re the new Overboss?”

“Apparently.” Bianca rubbed her hand over her nose. “Colter certainly knew how to live in style.”

She said it scornfully; Cait didn’t reply, not wanting to return the subject to Dogmeat. The other woman was very good at hiding it, but Cait knew from her own experiences that she was only so close to breaking.

Instead, she began, “So, if you don’t mind me askin’… why’d they make _you_ the Overboss? You’re not even a raider. What exactly made you runner-up?”

Bianca shrugged. “Apparently Colter was a fucking asshole. Getting through the Gauntlet and killing him was only part of it. They needed someone who could get shit done, make real progress in their little project.”

“Which is?”

“Taking back Nuka World.” Bianca began steadily pouring herself another glass of whiskey.

Cait frowned. “They haven’t done that yet?”

“You kidding?” Bianca swallowed the whiskey in one gulp. Her speech was going to start slurring soon. “This place is huge. About five, six different parks filled with Commonwealth filth. Apparently, as the Overboss, it’s my job to clear ‘em all out.”

“So you’re doin’ all the dirty work,” Cait muttered.

“Guess I am. As usual.”

“And you… you accepted this job because…?”

“Because if I don’t, they have no reason to just let me leave,” Bianca said frankly. “And they have no reason to let you leave, either. We’ll stay here for a while, at least until the raiders trust us.”

Cait was silent.

“And it’s this offer that we came here for, right? Caps, violence – the whole works.”

Cait didn’t know what to say. She’d wanted the caps, for sure. And they weren’t in a bad place right now, what with Bianca taking the job of boss over all Nuka World raiders. But she couldn’t forget that it was she who persuaded her friend to come here and lose something she loved. Cait found it hard to sympathize with people sometimes, but with Bianca it was never difficult. And she knew that, for whatever number of reasons, Bianca was grieving the loss of her dog because of her.

To her own surprise, Cait found herself murmuring, “I’m sorry.”

Bianca stared at her. Never before had she been genuinely apologized to by the Irish woman. “Why?”

“Well, I got us into this damn mess, didn’t I? I thought I knew these raiders, thought I had some idea of what they were hidin’ up their sleeves. But they got us. We shouldn’t have come.”

“You couldn’t have predicted the fight against Colter,” Bianca said flatly. “You couldn’t have predicted the Gauntlet, either. If I’d blamed you for any of that, you wouldn’t be here.”

True enough. Cait still got flashes of Bianca’s face hovering over hers, lit by the purple lights of the Cola Cars arena, telling her she wasn’t going to die. She still remembered believing her.

“Besides,” Bianca added, “Gage was true to his word. The Gauntlet might not have been worth it, but now I’m the Overboss of Nuka World we’re gonna have caps coming out of our ears. And plenty of violence, too.”

Cait nodded slowly, gazing carefully at her friend’s face. She still, for the life of her, couldn’t quite understand why Bianca was so kind to her. It had been a month since she’d started travelling with her, and already she was very far out of her comfort zone. At least when she’d had owners who were slavers and fightmasters, they’d made it clear where she stood. With Bianca, she was discovering an all new feeling of warmth and protectiveness that she’d never felt for any of the other owners of her contract. Cait did worry that the longer she remained as this woman’s friend and continued to get closer to her, the easier it would be for her to be taken advantage of.

Again.

\---

TWO YEARS PREVIOUSLY…

It was during her first year at the Combat Zone, feeling as if she had slightly more control over her own life, that Cait met Stratton.

She’d only just begun learning the ropes of cage-fighting; only just started earning Tommy Lonegan’s trust. She had her own bed to sleep in below the stage, in her own room with belongings and her own caps that no one would dare to steal from her. Tommy’s associates provided her and the other fighters with three cooked meals a day – more than Cait had ever had in her life – and even provided medical assistance after fights if they needed it.

Life still wasn’t easy, but Cait was in a good place.

She was 23 years old, a young woman in a big world, and she’d already learned a lot about surviving. It was Stratton who taught her the most important lesson of all.

Cait’s main weapon in the ring was her incredible anger. Anger at her parents, who were now dead. Anger at the slavers who had ruined her for five years. Anger at the Commonwealth for giving her so much shit throughout her life. Even as she was beginning in the ring, she won every single fight.

It was after a fight that she almost lost that she met Stratton. Their audience was often made up of the darkest human scum in the Commonwealth, and Stratton wasn’t much different. He was a mercenary smart and skilled enough to have made links with raider gangs – he had dangerous friends in all kinds of places. Several times, he’d shown up to watch Cait fight, and had taken a certain liking to her. Whatever the odds, he’d always bet on her, and when she won he would deliver her a knowing smile and leave with his money.

This one time, however, he decided not to leave. Instead, Cait found him waiting for her below the stage, leaning against the brick wall outside her room. A slick, easy-going smile on his face.

“Somethin’ you need?” Cait had questioned.

That night they fucked in her bed, and he left immediately after. She didn’t see him again until the next week. Fucking him hadn’t been particularly great – he’d been violent, rough, angry – but Cait had liked it. And she’d liked him, too, because of his fondness for her. As a girl who’d never had a choice in what happened with her body before, this new control was enticing.

After consecutive weeks led into months, Cait began to believe she was in love with Stratton.

He never failed to show up at her fights, never failed to wait for her afterwards so he could take her in her room. Stratton was funny, charming, ruthless. But, very soon, Cait began to realize that she still had no idea who he was. He didn’t stick around long after sex. It was all physical and exhilarating, and then he was gone.  
She tried to ease him into telling her about himself, into proving her worth by trusting in her a little. One night, after a battle that left her with bruises all over and lead-limbed with exhaustion, she even went as far as to deny him of the sex. The man just stared at her in shock – and then anger.

They fought for the first time that night, and it was the most violent shouting match Cait had ever been involved in. Nothing physical – just psychological pain, this time. The man had never wanted anything to do with who she was, she realized. He’d been sticking around to fuck her, and that was all. Nothing more. To him, she was dispensable.

As Cait began to fear that he was about to take advantage of her, she made to leave but found herself surrounded by raiders – hooded men, broad-shouldered and powerful – just outside the room. Stratton came up behind her, gripped her hips tightly and possessively with his hands, and whispered, “Next time you’ll think twice about walkin’ out on me.”

And then he left her there.

Cait got beaten up pretty badly that night. None of her fellow fighters came to her rescue, and Tommy turned a blind eye. The raiders left her with broken ribs and an incredibly bruised face. She couldn’t sleep from the pain, so she just laid on the mattress and stared at the ceiling, refusing to cry. Refusing to do anything but simmer in a rage.

Long ago, she’d adapted to things like this. Someone would hurt her or take advantage of her, and she would learn from it, become accustomed to it. And it would never affect her again.

Stratton’s lesson to her: Nobody does favors for free. If she wanted to avoid being hurt the same way again, she would have to start buying friends.

It was a year later, when the Combat Zone was taken over by raiders, that the lesson really came in handy. Cait blossomed where previously she would have fallen. She fought, earned caps, used them to pay off the worst of the human scum that made moves towards her. And so she lived, for two years.

Until Bianca.


	9. Survivors and Opportunists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they set off to begin clearing out Nuka World's infested parks for Bianca's new raider followers (otherwise known as the Disciples, the Pack and the Operators), Bianca begins to wonder why Cait still finds it so hard to trust her. After some persuasion, Cait tells her.

Bianca had always hated raiders, ever since she figured out what their place was in the Commonwealth. But travelling for a month away from “good” people, staying away from the big settlements like the Castle and Diamond City for so long, had made it possible for her to at least consider them as human beings. She couldn’t deny that they were also just trying to survive in the Commonwealth like she was – in a crappy society, sure, and doing things she didn’t agree with, but… at the very least, she could see them as people now.

The raiders in Nuka World were the first who hadn’t tried to kill her. She could walk among them, and all they would do was revert their eyes or nod their reluctant respect. Bianca felt as if she’d charmed them all to do her bidding.

It was a good feeling.

She was leaning over the gate bordering Fizztop Grille Patio – her new home – when Gage let himself in via the restaurant doors. Cait had been trying to crack the safe by the bed, sitting cross-legged beside it with a scattering of bobby pins all around her. Her cursing and muttered annoyances had only just begun to fade into the background.

Bianca felt a strong twinge somewhere deep in her chest as she didn’t hear Dogmeat’s usual growl warning her of an approaching stranger. After having a travelling doctor look at Cait’s wounds and ensure she would live (a doctor wearing a shock collar, nonetheless, which made Bianca feel a little sick) and having her own bullet wound bandaged, Bianca had spent the night digging a grave.

A dog-sized grave.

Losing Dogmeat was like losing a limb – an extra hand that had been there all along but now had been hacked off, leaving her feeling bare and vulnerable. It hurt like a hacked-off limb too.

Bianca had shooed away Porter Gage once she finished digging the grave and the rest of the curious raiders left her alone. She’d buried Dogmeat in a small patch of land just outside of Nuka World’s gates. Burying him in the Commonwealth would have been preferable, but she hadn’t quite had that option. She wrapped his body in her sleeping bag, ignoring the odd putty-like quality of dead flesh beneath her hands, and buried him six feet under. And, with every scoop of dirt that she dropped on his body, she felt herself becoming more and more angry.

More and more frustrated at how his life had turned out.

And how, after everything she’d been through, she hadn’t been able to save him from something so meaningless and stupid as an obstacle course set up by asshole raiders.

She finished burying Dogmeat by lantern light, crouched by his grave, whispered some words that she felt she couldn’t leave without saying, and then – after leaving a marker at the head of the grave – she left to find out how Cait was doing. The woman was sleeping peacefully when she arrived at the new home Gage had introduced her to; the patio section of the five-star Fizztop Grille. Gage was waiting at the bar, and she’d reverted to business talk with him for the rest of night. Below them in Nuka Town, some of the raiders were having a rather physical argument – for about half an hour, Bianca was able to hear distant yelling and breaking glass, even a few stray bullets.

By the time Gage sent her on her way to meet with the leaders of each raider clan, the fight had cleared up and the raiders had disappeared from below Fizztop Mountain.

Now, it seemed Gage was back to see how the meetings had gone.

“Well,” he said, with only a glance in Cait’s direction as she spun to glower at him. “You got back in one piece, eh? That’s a good sign. Everything all peachy with our neighborhood psychopaths?”

“Peachy-keen,” Bianca muttered, turning away from the beautiful view of Nuka Town bathed in morning sunlight so that she could face her new associate.

He wasn’t exactly a pretty sight, but Porter Gage at least kept himself clean and presentable. No patchy beard, no purple-yellow bruises from fights, no bloody knuckles. As far as raiders went, he was almost approachable.

“I sure hope you didn’t promise them too much,” Gage said. He stopped in front of her, chiseled arms folded. “I mean, going a little over the top is part of the game, but you don’t want them holding it against you if you can’t deliver.”

“They’ll do what they’re told. That’s all that matters.”

“Oh boy, okay…” Gage grinned at her cursory tone. “Well, either way it’s time for you to roll up your sleeves, boss. There’s work to be done.”

“Yeah, clear out the parks, whatever,” Bianca said dismissively. “And then what? You guys all move in?”

“Once you clear ‘em out, you stake a claim, plant a little flag for one of the gangs, and that settles it. It’s theirs for good. Who gets what – that’ll be your call. Whoever you hand it off to will appreciate it, but the others might get a little jealous. You know how it goes.”

The last thing Bianca needed was raider _politics_. She may enjoy having power over the raiders, having them answer to her, but having to deal with gang wars was far too much effort.

“Plant a flag?” she questioned disdainfully. “You serious?”

“Dead serious. Look, you leave it up to anyone else, the gangs’ll all just fight over who deserves the place. Lot of these idiots can’t read, so it needs to be as plain as day for them to get on board. They know what to watch for.”

Bianca let out an irritable sigh.

“That’s it. Simple, right? Take a minute to settle in, if you want, then get to it. And hey – we’re in this together. You want me watching your back, you just say the word.”

Bianca’s eyes drifted past his shoulder to Cait, who was half trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, half just prying at the safe’s lock mercilessly. She had such a concentrated expression on her face that she almost didn’t look contemptuous for once, nose screwed up and eyebrows lowered into a determined frown, tongue poking out of the side of her mouth. If Bianca could take a picture right now, she would keep it forever.

“Look,” Bianca said. “You helped me out, I get it. But I can’t trust you as far as I can throw you. So… I’m good for now.”

“Alright, boss. Your choice.” Gage didn’t seem fazed at all. “Good luck with the parks.”

As Gage left the apartment, Bianca saw Cait get up, deliver a swift kick to the safe’s door, and then exclaim in triumph as it swung open on its hinges.

“Nice,” Bianca commented.

Cait, blowing a strand of red hair out of her face, smirked and then crouched to look through the contents of the safe.

“Damn!” she called. “This guy kept a lotta shite locked up in here.”

“Anything good?” Bianca walked over and sat on the edge of the mattress, watching the back of her friend’s head as she searched thoroughly through Colter’s most precious belongings.

“I said _shite_ , didn’t I?” Cait retorted.

“Disappointing.”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Cait kicked the door closed again, irritated, and then turned to frown at Bianca with her hands on her hips. “So?”

“So what?”

“What were you two yammerin’ on about over there? Trouble in raider paradise?”

“Just a little more info about what I have to do,” Bianca sighed. “I’m thinking I’d rather they just kill me at this point.”

“Oh, come on,” Cait said with a grin. “It actually isn’t so bad – I found a map of Nuka World in the trash-”

“You were digging through the trash?”

Cait glared at her. “Never mind that. Anyway, did you know one of the sections is a Nuka cola factory? General, _that’s_ the meanin’ of bottlecaps comin’ outta our ears! I bet they just have _piles_ of caps just sittin’ around in there!”

“And plenty of mirelurks. Probably robot security. Turrets…”

Cait rolled her eyes. “You know, General, you’re really startin’ to strike me as a bit of a wet blanket.”

“A _what_?”

“A killjoy!” she retorted. “Where’s yer sense of fun?”

“Buried somewhere deep inside,” Bianca replied flatly.

“Well, get it out, then.” Cait sat on the mattress beside her, quickly becoming serious. “I… I know it’s a hard time fer you, General, but once you’ve spent enough time survivin’ like I have, losin’ the things you love, you’ll realize that caps’ll get you out of almost anythin’. That bottlin’ factory is our safe ticket outta here. We can leave, go back home…”

“There is no home,” Bianca interrupted tiredly. “You know that. There’s actually not much to go back to, is there?”

Cait became silent, chewing on her lip.

“No, I’ll… I’ll do what Gage wants me to. At least until I find another option,” Bianca decided.

“Leadin’ the raiders isn’t goin’ to be easy. They’re never content with anythin’. You give them caps, violence, territory, and they’ll still keep askin’ fer more.”

“If they get rowdy and ask for too much, I’ll kill them,” Bianca muttered. “I promised as much to their leaders.”

Cait was impressed. “Nice goin’.”

Bianca stood from the mattress and walked over to a coffee table by the bar, grabbing her rifle and her bag off of it. “Come on – might as well get moving.”

“Wait – we’re headin’ out there _now_?” Cait jumped to her feet, glancing around. “What about me bag, eh? Where’d that go?”

Bianca winced. “Well, it kind of got riddled with bullets during the fight with Colter.”

“So?” Cait stalked over, eyes searching her accusingly. “What the hell does that mean? Where’s me stuff?”

Bianca gestured to her own bag. “Figured if we’re gonna continue travelling together, it wouldn’t be too bad if we just shared the same bag. Your caps, your…” Bianca cleared her throat. “… everything’s in here, is my point.”

The expression on Cait’s face was very carefully blank – blank in a way that Bianca had almost gotten used to. The other woman got jumpy from time to time, distrustful, as if by doing something nice, Bianca was in the wrong.

“I’ll carry me own stuff,” she said curtly.

“We can-”

“What, share?” Cait laughed a little shakily. “I’m not good at sharin’, General. Never have been.”

“Right, because stealing’s more your style, isn’t it?”

Cait glared at her reproachfully. “Don’t fockin’ fault me for being careful – it’s the only way I know how to live. And me style is none of your business.”

“Fine.” Irritably, Bianca dropped her bag back on the table. “Separate your stuff. Do what you want. I’ll be downstairs, so bring my bag to me when you’re done.”

If anything, Bianca was just growing more and more tired of Cait being “careful”. It couldn’t hurt to just _trust_ her every once in a while. Especially since she’d gone through so much to keep her alive. As Cait began rifling through her bag, Bianca turned her back on the other woman and stepped onto the balcony’s lift. As she pressed the button to go down, she caught Cait staring at her from the corner of her eye – a hard, uncertain stare.

Bianca didn’t know what it would take to get Cait to trust her. She still didn’t quite understand how the other woman’s mind worked. Half the time, she was rambling on about caps and violence. For the other half, she was commenting on just about everything with sexual innuendo, flirting with Bianca, acting as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

If Bianca had been looking for someone even more complicated than herself, it seemed she’d found them.

 ---

The nearest park to them was the Galactic Zone – a space-themed, ride-central park that was filled with all sorts of futuristic attractions. While Cait and Bianca were still partly ignoring each other, they couldn’t help but feel awed by the old theme park together.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have much time to enjoy any of the sights, as the moment they stepped through the gate, they were ambushed by what seemed to be a whole army of robot security.

After sprinting through the park in a speedy, deadly tour, shooting and running from Mr Handy wait-staff, walking soda-machines, rigged-up assaultrons, heavy laser turrets, and protrectron guards, Cait and Bianca finally managed to lock themselves in the main control center. Some of the robots clustered outside, calling to them through the windows; some resumed their patrols. Cait and Bianca had found themselves locked in a trap.

“Surely we can switch the damn things off?” Cait snapped, backing away from the locked doorway as a Mr Frothy machine crashed into the glass. She was panting, and had a brand new cluster of scratches on her face from the kicked-up asphalt and radioactive dust.

Bianca jogged over to the terminal and tried to start it up, stepping over the bodies of two dead traders. The control room was deadly quiet without the noises outside – there was hardly any air coming in.

“Power’s off,” Bianca muttered.

“So we’re dead, then.”

Cait tossed her shotgun onto the floor, unslung her new bag – one of Colter’s – from her shoulders, and then slid to sit with her back to one of the control room’s walls. Some of the robots were still calling to them, but they were easy enough to ignore. Most of the voices reminded Bianca chillingly of Codsworth, the old Mr Handy bot that had serviced she and her husband before the war. Bianca had no idea where he was now.

Bianca frowned, searching the wall of machines. She traced her finger around a rectangular plate that seemed to be missing in several places along the control panel. “I think these things are what powers it up – we find them, we can shut all the robots down.”

“What things?”

Cait sprung to her feet and walked over, glaring down at what Bianca was pointing at. “But there’s… what, twenty of them? Thirty of them? I bet most of them are out _there._ And I don’t know if I want to spend the rest of me bloody life runnin’ around an old theme park on a treasure hunt.”

“Sometimes,” Bianca said through her teeth, “we don’t have a _choice_.”

Cait shot her a glare. “Fock it. I say we wait for the robots to give up pesterin’ us and then make a run fer it – get back to Nuka Town. Send the goddamn raiders in to do the work instead.”

“That’s not-”

“What have they done fer you?” Cait cut in. “ _Nothin_ ’. If they want this park, they can come and get it themselves.”

“Cait…”

“I’ve spent enough of me life doin’ a raider’s biddin’! It’s not happenin’ aga-”

“ _Cait!_ ”

“What?” she snapped.

“I’m going to get this park back up and running. Not for the raiders, but because it needs to be done. I may not like the idea of certain death, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on something I’ve already begun. If _you_ want to go back, feel free. I won’t stop you.”

“And you’d stay here alone?” Cait snorted. “Yeah, right.”

Bianca raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think I can take care of myself?”

“Not with those tin cans hangin’ around waitin’ to tear you to pieces,” Cait countered. She sighed touchily, raking a hand through her hair. “Fine, I’ll stay.”

“I didn’t ask you to stay.”

“Who else is goin’ to watch yer back?” Cait grumbled.

As the Irish woman left her by the control panel, returning to her bag, Bianca felt the slightest smile grace her lips. Stubborn, impatient, eager to complain… Cait was an absolute asshole sometimes. But she was proving to be rather loyal, too. And Bianca found she wasn’t nearly as annoyed by the other woman as she had been earlier.

“We’ll wait until the robots have given up, though,” Bianca said, following her. “That was a good idea.”

“I know it was.”

“Could be a few hours.” Bianca unslung her own large bag from her shoulders leaning it against the wall beside where Cait had resumed sitting. “And by then it’ll be dark. I don’t like running around in the dark very much.”

“So you’re sayin’ we’ll be here overnight,” Cait grumbled.

“Uh-huh.” Bianca took off her sunglasses, tucking them into the front pocket of her bag. She did the same with the bandana. And then she sat down. Cait was watching her closely, eyes following her every movement.

“Alright,” Cait said finally. “Look, I feel like I should be sorry about somethin’, but I’m not sure what.”

“Should you?”

Cait scowled. “You know what I’m talkin’ about. If you’re wonderin’ why I still don’t trust you, it’s because trustin’ anyone feels like throwin’ all caution to the wind.”

Bianca considered that for a while in silence. “You can trust me.”

“I dunno, General.”

Bianca paused again, this time for even longer. Then she began, “Before the war, trust was simple. I trusted the people I met – I even trusted people I hadn’t met: the president, the army, most of the other citizens in Boston. Society was about lifting each other up, rising above the oppression. Now, even your neighbor is liable to kill you.” She glanced across at Cait. “You’ve been wondering why I took your contract. Why I treat you like a friend rather than a gun for hire.”

The woman’s eyes flickered in surprise, but she did a good job of hiding it, as usual. Bianca knew it was exactly what she’d been thinking.

“Well… the place I came from, two hundred years ago, taught me to respect people. All people. However evil, however immoral, however ignorant. I grew up with the belief that humankind is inherently good.”

Cait was unconvinced. “Well, that’s just stupid.”

“It seems stupid now,” Bianca said. “But you’ve never lived in a peaceful neighborhood. You’ve never been part of a society whose main goal is actually to protect you. Don’t get me wrong – the Commonwealth’s changed me since I got out of that vault. I don’t trust people or respect people nearly as much as I once did. Things have… happened. Bad things. But I can still look at a settler and see someone who needs – and _deserves_ – help. I can still look at a common Diamond City criminal and see someone who was corrupted by the people around them and that’s what made them scum. I look at people, and I see backstory. I can empathize, which is something very few people in the Commonwealth have grown up able to do.”

“Empathize,” Cait repeated slowly, rolling the word on her tongue. “Yeah, not really my thing.”

“My point is,” Bianca forged on, “I treat you like a friend because I can see a story in you. You’re an absolute asshole sometimes, but I know there’s something behind it. You have a set of values that have evolved because of what you’ve been through. And… weirdly enough, even though we’ve certainly never been through the same things in our lives, your values almost match mine.”

Cait let out a snort of exasperation. “You mean killin’ fer caps?”

Bianca smiled. “The reason caps appeal to _me_ so much is because they guarantee something that the Commonwealth doesn’t offer easily: survival. Since I entered the Commonwealth for the first time, I became accustomed to the values of a survivor – money and killing became much more important. Money for food, meds and anything extra on the side to make the suffering a little easier. Killing, so other people wouldn’t kill me. Sound familiar to you?”

Cait said nothing.

“And I think power is important, too. Power in other people, and in other things, makes me feel uneasy. Makes me feel like they’re too hard to trust, because if they turn on me I won’t be able to fight them off.”

The Irish woman wasn’t looking at her now, picking at a hangnail instead. Bianca wondered if she was even getting through to her.

“You can’t seriously deny that when I killed all the raiders in the Combat Zone and then picked up your contract that you didn’t feel that way? Technically, it gave me power over you, right? Made me too hard to trust?”

“Everyone’s too hard to trust,” Cait muttered.

“I’ve saved your life, and you’ve saved mine. I’ve shared the caps we’ve earned. I’ve shared my food with you, my medicine. I’ve given you somewhere safe to sleep, somewhere far away from raiders and fighting rings…”

“Guilt?” Cait snapped, glowering at her. “Really?”

“I’m not trying to guilt you into trusting me. I’m just trying to understand,” Bianca said earnestly. “Like I said, I come from a place where I can truly empathize. I don’t know you well, Cait, but I think I sort of get where you’re coming from.”

“Whatever you think you get, General, that isn’t it,” Cait said sharply. “We’ve been on the road together for a while, and we’ve taken some hard knocks, but that doesn’t mean we know a damn thing about each other.”

Bianca could tell she wasn’t really getting anywhere – Cait was being too defensive.

“Look… you can be as nervous as you want about sharing things with me. You can question my motives, and expect me to take advantage of you. But the least you could do is _try_ to trust me.”

“Try?” Cait shook her head derisively and folded her arms bracingly across her chest, refusing to meet Bianca’s eyes. “The minute I tell you anythin’ about myself, General, you’re not even gonna want to look at me.”

Bianca frowned. “Why’s that?”

“You may think now it’d be nice to know more about me, but when you hear me story… you might regret it.”

“Try me.”

Cait looked at her quizzically, guarded.

“We’ll be stuck in here for a while,” Bianca pointed out. “And there’s no reason for us to keep acting like we’re strangers.”

The other woman sighed, almost giving in. “You gonna stop buggin’ me about trust and all that shite if I tell you about myself?”

“I promise.”

“Fine.” Cait shifted, moving her back off the wall so that she could at least partly face Bianca, eyes skipping over her face but not resting anywhere for too long. She was really nervous about this, Bianca realized.

But she was going to do it.

“This story starts with two wastes of humanity I suppose you could call me parents,” Cait began, her voice cold. “I’m convinced I was a mistake, because I don’t remember a single moment that they treated me like their daughter. I was yelled at and beaten. Everythin’ I did was wrong. Nothin’ but a nuisance in their eyes.”

So that was where it began, then. Cait’s own parents had created the shield she wore – the impenetrable armor that Bianca was finding it so hard to get through. It was in childhood that a child was most malleable, and her parents had beaten her into a very twisted shape.

“The whole time I was tellin’ meself that they had to love me, even if it was just the tiniest bit, because they never kicked me out.” Finally, her eyes met Bianca’s, dark and spiteful. “Then me eighteenth birthday arrived and I found out why they kept me around. They slapped a shock collar around me neck and sold me to slavers. Didn’t even care about me enough to say goodbye. Eighteen years of sufferin’ through that shite and all I was worth to them was a pocketful of caps.”

With not much else to say, Bianca settled with a quiet and meaningful, “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” Cait rubbed her nose, seeming taken aback. “But… there’s more to the story. It would be easy to blame me charmin’ personality on me parents. But they didn’t make me this way. I did.

“I was with those slavers fer five years. Roughest five of me goddamn life. The things they made me do… the way they used me fer their amusement. It sickens me to my stomach even thinkin’ about it. But I bided me time and learned to use their own methods against them. Stealin’ a few caps out of a sleepin’ man’s pocket is a piece of cake… as long as you don’t get greedy.”

Bianca swallowed. “I don’t know how you survived.”

“That makes two of us,” Cait muttered, lowering her head to pick at that hangnail again. “It took every ounce of patience I had, but after five years I had finally pocketed enough to buy me own way outta there. But instead of headin’ off to try and repair the shambles of me life, I gave in to me rage and I headed home. You can imagine the look on me parents’ faces when I kicked open the door. What you can’t imagine is what they looked like after… after I emptied me gun into them.”

Bianca stared at the other woman, trying to come to terms with this incredibly dark memory from her past. Trying to come to terms with her own feelings about it, what she would have done if she were Cait and she’d spent five years being used and abused by slavers. If she’d grown up with parents who’d abused her and didn’t give a shit about her, would she have been driven to take revenge? At that scale?

“You killed your own parents?” Bianca inquired quietly.

Cait jerked her head up to glower at her. “How can you call them parents?” she snapped. “They were opportunists who were takin’ advantage of a human bein’ just to make a few caps! If I had come out of that bitch of a mother deformed, they’d have just drowned me and started again. They didn’t give a _shite_ about me. So I didn’t give a _shite_ about them. End of story.”

This was exactly what made Cait so complicated. She despised – and had even killed – her own parents for taking advantage of her to earn caps. But she did that to people too. And so did Bianca. They killed people, stole from people, some of them questionably innocent (Harvey, for example), just to earn caps and satisfy their thirsts for blood. Survivors were opportunists, and Cait didn’t quite seem to realize that she was one of them.

Then again, although Cait did enjoy killing for caps, and made a big deal about seeming not to care about anything else, Bianca had already made it clear she knew the woman had values. Cait was only human, after all. Even she was subject to grief, blind rage, fear. And, as a young woman, it wasn’t surprising that her own emotions had driven her to do something that, two hundred years ago, Bianca would have thought was completely and morally wrong.

“It sounds like justice to me,” Bianca told her firmly.

Cait clenched her jaw, shrugging. “Was it justice, or was it murder? When I close me eyes, all I can see is their faces twisted with fear. And then me mind starts wanderin’ and I start judgin’ meself. And it’s rippin’ me the fuck apart.”

Which was why Cait was so defensive, why she hadn’t wanted to tell Bianca any of this – even _she_ wasn’t sure if what she’d done was right. In fact, she was almost certain it wasn’t. Cait didn’t trust _herself_.

“You think I inject myself with all this shite and drink meself drunk because I’m a ‘tough Irish gal?’” Cait said, voice rough. “I do it so I can forget and move on with me miserable life.”

“So do I.”

Cait frowned, uneasy. “What miserable life have you got, General?”

“You haven’t been looking hard enough,” Bianca said flatly. “I killed my own son."

Cait was startled into looking at her, blinking in surprise.

"Somewhere in the rubble of what the Institute once was… he’s rotting away.”

Cait’s eyes went round. “You’re kiddin’? He was in the Institute?”

“Someone kidnapped him when I was still in the vault – they took him about 60 years before we were scheduled to wake up. They shot my husband. When I got out of the vault and entered the Commonwealth, everything I did – _everything_ – was to find my son. I killed people in cold-blood, I tried my best to take revenge. And then I realized that Shaun was the reason everyone in the Commonwealth was so fucking scared. I realized he was an old man, he ran the Institute, he was ignorant of the suffering happening above.” Bianca sighed, more sad now than angry at herself. Time had shown to make the pain a little bit easier, but she still couldn’t forget that the sole reason she’d accepted the Commonwealth had been because of her son. “When I blew up the Institute, he blew up with it. And I walked away, a hero.”

Cait shook her head, one side of her mouth quirking downwards. “Hell of a story there. Even if it's a sad one.”

“So was yours.”

The Irish woman met her eyes, and Bianca smiled at her fondly. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

Cait’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, her green eyes betraying her true feelings even as she struggled to keep her face under control. She was a tragic, angry person. If killing her own son for the greater good still made Bianca a hero, then Cait was a sort of hero, too.

“I knew I was takin’ a chance tellin’ you this,” Cait said quietly. “But I never expected you to say you were _proud_ of me. I… I think I needed to hear that from you. Thank you.”

Very carefully, knowing that physical contact didn’t always work, Bianca reached out and gently laid a hand on Cait’s arm. She didn’t flinch back or draw away like she normally did, however; she just stared at Bianca’s hand like it was a foreign object she’d never seen before.

“I’m always here for you, Cait. There’s nothing you could say that would ever change that.”

Even as the sky darkened outside and the room was becoming stretched in long shadows, Bianca could see the deep pink blush that crept onto Cait’s face. The woman ripped her arm away quickly, stammering, “Oh! I… well… that’s… that’s not what I expected you to say.”

“What _did_ you expect me to say?”

“I guess I didn’t realize you cared that much about me,” Cait said, containing herself. “It… I suppose it feels good to know if I need you, you’ll be there for me.” She cleared her throat. “And I’ll always be there for you, too.”

Bianca’s face stretched into a wide, telling grin. “And to think you said you weren’t good with emotions.”

“Oh, come on,” Cait grumbled. “You asked me to try, didn’t you?”

“I’m happy you did.”

Bianca pushed herself to her feet using the wall and tilted her body to glance out of the window without being seen. With the exception of one Mr Frothy bot still hovering around outside, calling for orders, there were no more robots around.

“I think I was right about sleeping here.”

“You sure headin’ back to Nuka Town doesn’t make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?”

Bianca shot Cait a sarcastic smile. “No. Like I said, this is something that needs to be done. Tomorrow we’ll find all the control panel pieces, fix the computer, and shut all the robots down. _Then_ we’ll go back to Nuka Town.”

“Alright, Cap’n,” Cait said simply.

Bianca widened her eyes in mock-surprise. “Jesus, Cait, what’s happened to you? Did you just… agree to something without argument?”

Cait smirked. “What can I say? You have power over me, General.”

As Bianca headed back over to the curved wall of control panels, Cait added slyly, “You’re on top of things – maybe I want to be one of them.”

Bianca coughed to disguise her surprise and faint embarrassment at the sexual innuendo, and then turned to see Cait grinning flirtatiously at her.

“And she’s back.”


	10. Until it Began to Mean Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait starts to feel some sort of way about her new friend Bianca, and the celebratory wine-drinking doesn't help her maintain her self-control. OR: Drunk Cait tries to go a little further than flirting this time.

They slept in the Galactic Zone control room that night and Cait didn’t think it was half bad. Cait curled up next to the wall, still with her back to it, and Bianca just sat against her bag and drifted off. About three feet between them, but Cait still fell asleep feeling as if they were so much closer than that.

She _dreamed_ they were so much closer than that. Closer in a way that Cait hadn’t ever allowed herself to fantasize about, because it just seemed too impractical.

And she woke up feeling very hot and fidgety in the morning. No way to get herself off, relieve the tension she could feel coiling in her lower regions. And it was _killing_ her. So she climbed to her feet and began pacing, chewing on her lip, fingers tapping against her thighs, trying to concentrate on anything but the rather vivid dream of hot, passion-filled sex.

The flirting was fun until it actually began to mean something.

Cait wasn’t quite sure what had happened the night before, but it warmed her to even the point of smiling across at her friend in her slumber. Bianca was a damn good friend.

Damn good.

That was Cait’s new mantra. Only a good friend could have made her feel like she was worth something; like she wasn’t a piece of shit who deserved everything that had been tossed at her. Only a good friend could have understood what it meant for Cait to turn on her own parents and kill them in cold blood.

They had been, more or less, the only people she knew when she grew up. With the exception of caravans that stopped by at their farm from time to time, Cait had had no interaction with anyone other than the very people who had robbed her of her youth and innocence. Her whole childhood had been the abuse, and once she’d been away from her parents and realized that childhood wasn’t meant to be like that at all, she’d become enormously angry.

She shot her mother and father with a ten-millimeter pistol. And she shot them both to fatally wound them, twice each in the stomach, wanting them to suffer like she had while they died. She’d _thought_ she wanted that.

Once it happened, and they were staring at her in absolute shock and fear, bleeding and bleeding, Cait had dropped the gun and run from the house as fast as she could. She’d thrown up twice and begun crying by the time she reached the outskirts of the city an hour later. She was absolutely devastated by her own guilt.

Her parents had been the first to feed her drugs; drugs that Cait still found herself using today, hopelessly addicted. Her father gave her that first ever dose of psycho. Her mother crushed up Mentats and mixed it in with her food, reasoning that Cait was too stupid to learn like other kids did – might as well make her smart with chems. Her parents made it impossible for Cait to even fit into that vague definition of “normal” she’d heard so often throughout her life. No, she wasn’t normal.

Killing her parents wasn’t so normal either, but it was them who had made her that way.

After buying her freedom and enacting her revenge, Cait had voluntarily come under Tommy Lonegan’s contract. Fending for herself had been a lesson well-learned during those five years of slavery. The job of a cage-fighter was a natural fit for her so she forced her anger out into killing other combatants. Her guilt, too. She tried to justify what she’d done by getting hurt in the ring, by fighting where there were at least more rules, more guidelines.

It was only now, surprisingly, that she’d finally found a validation for what she’d done. The moment Bianca had justified her worst crime, Cait had believed her. And that was that.

Yeah, Bianca was a damn good friend.

 

They left the control room once Bianca was awake and they’d both checked the coast was clear. Thankfully, Cait no longer felt like she needed to jump the other woman’s bones and make her steamy dream come true – otherwise the situation would have been very awkward between them. Cait managed to successfully convince herself that the dream had just been a dream, and that she was simply thankful for the other woman’s acceptance of her past.

The day was spent sneaking around the futuristic theme park without upsetting any of the robots, entering each building and scouring them for computer parts. Surprisingly, they found loads – little glowing panels that fit in the rectangular gaps left empty in the control room. By midday, they’d collected twenty-one of the panels. After placing them in each slot, Bianca was able to log into the computer and shut down most of the park’s defenses.

By late afternoon, they’d found the last few panels, almost dying at the hands of deadly eyebots in the robot fighting arena, and returned to the control room for the final kill switch. While Cait slotted the panels into the empty spots, Bianca stooped by the computer, grinning to herself as her fingers flew over the keys and she worked the machine like she wasn’t anything less than a qualified IT expert.

She finally pressed the enter button with a flourish, turning to Cait with her hazel eyes wide and bright, and said, “Done.”

Cait glanced out of the window of the room, naively expecting some sort of explosion.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. We’re safe.” Bianca jogged down the steps, grabbed her bag, and beckoned with her head. “Come on – back to Nuka Town. That’s what you were waiting for, right?”

Cait smirked. “You do know we’re havin’ a drink when we get back, don’t you? And I’m near starvin’ to death.”

“A celebration’s definitely in order.”

They left the control room behind, the site where Cait had opened up about herself for the first time and not been let down. And they passed collapsed robots everywhere they walked as they ventured back out beyond the entrance of the Galactic Zone.

“We gonna strip these things fer parts or just blast ‘em into tiny pieces?” Cait questioned scornfully.

“Let’s leave that decision to the raiders.”

“You decided which gang you’re givin’ this park to?”

Bianca shrugged, adjusting their path so that they began walking straight back towards Nuka Town. “Honestly, I don’t care who gets what.”

“You can’t tell me you don’t have a favorite,” Cait grinned. “Come on. I won’t tell.”

“Well… the Operators seem like the raiders closest to humanity,” Bianca said dryly.

“Aww, I was likin’ the sound of the Pack. You know, group a raiders all howlin’ at the moon once a month. Real party animals.”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “What, the Disciples don’t appeal to you?”

“They’re too much like yer typical raiders,” Cait muttered, wrinkling her nose. “Blood and guts and brains and bullets… you get my meanin’.”

“Right.”

“So you’ll give the Galactic Zone to the Operators,” Cait said thoughtfully. “Figures. Maybe the Pack could get Safari Adventure. Disciples could do with Kiddie Kingdom.”

She snickered at the idea of all those black-wearing bloodthirsty raiders strolling around a kid’s theme park.

Bianca smiled. “What about World of Refreshment?”

“That’s fer us, of course,” Cait said confidently.

“I don’t think the Overboss is allowed to have a stake on one of the parks.”

“Well, why the hell not?” She frowned. “You, me, a whole factory of Nuka cola – any flavor you could want. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Bianca said hesitantly.

“I get it, I get it. You don’t want to stay here long.” Cait dismissed her with a wave of a hand. “Just leave it to me, then. I don’t mind havin’ all those caps and flavors to myself.”

“You wouldn’t want to come back to the Commonwealth?”

“Well, you told me yerself there’s no home there,” Cait said sarcastically. “I mean… I’m no General or slayer of all synths, am I? I don’t have appearances to keep up like you do.”

“If _I_ was going back, would you stay here?”

Cait looked at the other woman as they walked, realizing she was serious about the question. As if she thought Cait would rather stay here in a theme park full of raiders when the one person who had ever understood and accepted her was off back to the Commonwealth.

“You’re killin’ me, General,” Cait deadpanned.

“What?”

“I was kiddin’, _obviously_.” As they passed back into Nuka Town, raiders glowering at them as they passed, Cait gestured openly towards them and said, “These arseholes’re hardly makin’ me feel at home here.”

Bianca said nothing as they crossed the courtyard outside the arcade and the Dinner Parlor Theatre, heading towards the gigantic mountain they’d made their home. Nuka Town USA was just as run-down as the rest of Nuka World but the raider factions had given it the appearance of being full of life. There were raiders patrolling at all times, smoking outside open doors, blasting radios on full volume. Some of the raiders were standing knee-deep in the giant boat pond heading off Fizztop Mountain, cleaning clothes and weapon parts, fishing garbage out of the water. One or two would be arguing, guns in hand – another would be dragging along someone in a shock collar, growling orders at them.

It was very familiar to Cait after years of living among raiders in the Combat Zone. But something – a small spark of anger from the five years before that, perhaps – made her all of a sudden want to whip out her shotgun and go on a shooting spree. Kill every last one of them. Remove the shock collars from those innocent settlers and traders, free them from the torture and the agony of being used. It was only the rationality that Cait would instantly be shot down that kept her from doing it. Instead, she just watched the raiders angrily as she and Bianca passed them, hating their lack of justice and their entitled sense of power.

As they climbed into the lift on the other side of the boat pond and Bianca pressed the button for them to go up, she caught sight of Cait’s brooding face. “What’s wrong now?”

“I want out of here as much as you do,” Cait said sharply. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

Bianca’s frown was hidden behind the glasses she’d put back on, but Cait knew it was there.

They arrived at Fizztop Grille and Cait stepped off the elevator quickly, striding towards the bar and hoisting herself up and over it, searching through the rows of bottles Colter had kept there. “Bourbon?” she called.

“Not really a celebration drink,” Bianca replied, following her and sitting herself carefully on one of the stools.

Cait grabbed a thin bottle of dark red liquid, blowing off the dust before she presented it to Bianca like a well-trained bartender. “Wine, madam?”

“Perfect.”

There were no wine glasses, so Cait just filled two normal drinking glasses with the aged alcohol, sliding one across to Bianca. It had been a long day, and her friend grabbed the glass and began chugging it down promptly.

“Oh… well, drink up,” Cait said, shaking her head amusedly. “Wouldn’t want to see the stuff go to waste.”

“Sorry.” Bianca wiped her lips almost delicately with her fingers and then removed her sunglasses, setting them carefully on the bar beside her. ‘Cheers?”

“Cheers.”

They clinked their glasses like they had two days before in favor of Dogmeat, and Cait too chugged back her glass of wine. It tasted foul the way only wine that had been untouched for longer than two hundred years could taste. If she’d been a connoisseur, she’d have found it in her to enjoy it. Instead, Cait just swallowed the lot and then slammed the glass down, scraping her tongue with her teeth to remove the bitter taste. Cait was more of a hard liquor sort of girl.

“Disgustin’.”

“I like it,” Bianca protested. She reached for the bottle and made to pour them another glass each.

“Well, this does feel almost… romantic,” Cait said, winking across the bar at her friend.

Bianca just rolled her eyes as usual. “I don’t think you know what romantic is, Cait.”

“Wanna bed?” She coughed. “I mean, _bet?_ ”

With a snort of laughter, Bianca said, “You’re really not as smooth as you think you are.”

Cait just smiled secretively and began drinking back her second glass of wine. The thing about aged wine, too, was that it make you drunk much faster than young wine. Cait knew this because someone had once made her try a home-brewed tarberry wine that had tasted disgusting and, after three whole bottles, gave her only the faintest buzz that she loved from alcohol.

 _This_ wine was already making her feel woozy – not quite as satisfying as psycho, but enough to pillow the world around her and make her feel like she didn’t have to guard herself as much.

“Cait?”

Cait blinked hard, realizing she’d just been smiling off into the distance, and said, “This actually isn’t so bad.”

Bianca took her glass and set it beside her own, finishing the wine bottle between them. Without thinking, Cait reached under the bar and grabbed another one.

“We getting drunk together?” Bianca questioned, almost as if she was surprised.

“Maybe we are. Don’t mind, do ya?’

Bianca just shrugged. “Just let me know when I’ve drunken you under the table.”

“Ha. Try me, General.” Cait tried to uncork the wine with her fingers but the cork in this bottle was lodged in much deeper. “Say, you don’t have a bottle opener on you, do you?”

Sighing, the woman grabbed the bottle from her, their fingers brushing – Cait almost wondered if there was a word for the intense feeling she got just from that small second of contact. It wasn’t just now, either. It was a feeling Cait had felt for every smile, however faint. Every rolling of those hazel eyes, as if Cait aggravated her but was tolerable. Every time she flirted with the woman and got a sarcastic response in return.

Bianca reached into her bag, which she’d set on the stool beside her, and retrieved one of her leftover railway spikes. With its tip, she dug into the edge of the cork and yanked as hard as she could. It released with a pop and a tiny splash of the red liquid.

“There.”

“Well, well,” Cait said, eyeing the other woman. “I’m startin’ to be glad I chose you as my drinkin’ buddy.”

Again, the drinking glasses were filled. Cait made sure their fingers touched again as she passed Bianca her glass – for research purposes, of course. She just wanted to know what the feeling meant.

The alcohol was making Cait even brasher than usual, even more flirtatious than normal, and she could tell as they kept up a transparent conversation that Bianca was feeling a little nervous about it. 

_The flirting was fun until it actually began to mean something._

Cait, even as she continued to drink, continued to talk with her friend about the stupid, crazy day they’d had trying to get the Galactic Zone up and running… was wondering what was wrong with her. It was frustrating, really, to feel something she couldn’t put a name to.

And her eyes kept on finding Bianca’s lips – the full, smooth lips that turned up naturally at the corners. The small scar just below them on her chin, a silver line that wouldn’t have been visible if she weren’t so tanned. And, when Cait leaned slightly closer in conversation, she could see freckles on the bridge of Bianca’s nose. Nothing like her own, more like a cute spattering where it counted, mostly hidden by the deep olive color of her skin. And there were the long, arching eyebrows; the dark lashes framing those pretty hazel eyes that looked at her intently, curiously. Bianca didn’t seem to notice that Cait was watching her so closely, or if she did, she didn’t mind. And Cait wasn’t willing to stop anytime soon.

The alcohol, if anything, was just bringing back the memories from that dream last night. Cait wanted sex, and badly. It had been too long. Surely that was what she’d been feeling.

Cait wanted to fuck her.

She wanted to kiss that mouth, dig her nails into that golden skin, bite down on the other woman’s lip until it gave. Tangle her fingers in that soft hair and pull until she heard some sound of pain or pleasure. Press her hands hard into the small of her back until they were hip-to-hip, crushed together in the most painful, pleasing way.

“Cait?”

Again, she’d been drifting away. Feeling blurry and restless, Cait quickly set her glass down, looking away from Bianca so she at least had a second of recovery from that vision.

“I haven’t already drunken you under, have I?” Bianca said with a smirk.

Cait snapped her head back up to look at her, eyes again straying helplessly to those lips, this time smiling at her. Making her tingle from head to toe.

 _Shite_.

Before the alcohol made her do something she’d regret, Cait needed to go and cool down. For once, she needed to not act on her impulses. For once, she needed to not ruin something real.

She slammed her glass down on the bar and hoisted herself back over the surface easily, landing feet spread, arms clutching a stool so she wouldn’t sway and fall over.

“I’m going fer a walk.”

Bianca stared at her. “Why?”

“It’s hot in here,” Cait slurred, feeling her cheeks flush tellingly as she made to walk past the other woman.

A hand shot out, clutching her wrist, and she stopped walking. Closed her eyes as she imagined that hand being an anchor to reality. An anchor and an invitation. She felt the numbness in her stomach increase, felt her heart rate speeding up.

They were at an impasse. Cait needed to leave but didn’t want to. Bianca wanted to ask her where she was going but didn’t know how to. So Cait stood there with her eyes closed, swaying slightly, trying not to see herself fucking the other woman, and Bianca sat on her stool and stared at her.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

And then Bianca’s hand tugged on her wrist, pulling her slightly closer. Cait opened her eyes, surprised, and warned her, “Any closer and we’re gonna be more than just friends.”

The hazel eyes stayed locked on her, almost as if they were daring her to do something. But that could just be the alcohol telling Cait what she wanted to hear.

Still, she hesitated only for a moment.

In a heated, fiery flash of what could almost be described as anger – but to Cait was pure arousal – she twisted her hand very quickly out of Bianca’s grip, grabbed her roughly by the straps of her armor, and yanked her into a kiss that was dealt with near-bruising force.

Even through the veil of the alcohol, the wet warmth of Bianca’s lips was like a dream come true, full and soft beneath Cait’s own. Cait kissed her violently, urgently, sliding her fingers into the other woman’s hair and digging her nails in until she heard that gasp of surprise she wanted, tasted it, felt the bitter tanginess of wine on Bianca’s lips. Cait was delirious with the need to take her, ruin her, run her lips and teeth over every inch of her skin.

She was drugged with need. And it felt _very_ good.

Bianca gasped again as Cait maneuvered her lips open skillfully, still clutching her with an aching need as her tongue made contact, as her teeth bit down on her bottom lip, tugging hard. It almost felt as if ending the kiss would mean death. She would cease to exist.

Existing was only this: the pushing and pulling, the feel of hot breath and teeth and tongue and soft lips, the increasing pressure of Bianca’s hands on her hips, the way the other woman gasped and moved against her.

And then Bianca suddenly seemed to change her mind. Her hands shoved on Cait’s stomach, and in a heartbeat it was all over.

The Irish woman was stumbling backwards and breathing hard, still wanting to feel the crushing power of those lips against hers, the intoxicating energy of that woman up against her.

But Bianca was frowning at her, wiping a hand over her mouth, and Cait wondered all of a sudden if she’d _imagined_ the other woman kissing her back. Maybe it had all just been her initiating herself in that wild moment of craving.

Cait dropped her eyes, overwhelmed with a very powerful wave of guilt – and humiliation. She needed to be alone.

Hot, cold, hot, cold.

Twisting, Cait literally made a run for the elevator, but again Bianca stopped her. Grabbed her arm and turned her back.

“Oh, come on,” Cait snapped in frustration. “You don’t want me, I get it. At least let a gal walk off in shame-”

Bianca gingerly took Cait’s face in both hands and bent to kiss her.

And it was nothing like the kiss before. Nothing like the fire, the need, the arousal. It was slow, soft, lip-to-lip. And it caught Cait completely by surprise.

Bianca kissed her like she cared about her, not like she wanted to destroy her. Every movement of her lips made Cait well up with that deep, indescribable feeling inside, and she felt herself become weak in the other woman’s arms. Limp, vulnerable, malleable.

And she was scared.

Cait jerked her head back suddenly, hands up and pushing some space between them. Feeling like she was going to break for some reason, too overwhelmed by Bianca’s bizarre reaction.

“That’s…” she trailed off, feeling Bianca’s eyes on her. Feeling as if too much had changed in five minutes between them and they could never go back.

“It was sex I wanted,” Cait said firmly. “Not… _that_.”

Bianca said nothing, but Cait saw the openness in her expression close very suddenly, locking like a door. She dropped her hands from Cait’s arms, backing away.

“I see,” Bianca said finally, coldly. As if she were speaking to someone she didn’t know so well. “The thing is, Cait, I’m not a fucking _thing_ to have sex with – at least… I’d thought I was more than that.”

Cait, too worried about the situation, said nothing. Tried to act like she was indifferent.

“Is that it?” Bianca demanded, the ice now transforming into fire. “You were trying to get into my pants the whole time?”

As an attempt to joke, Cait pointed out, “They’re nice pants.”

Bianca was humiliated, and Cait could see she was. They were _both_ humiliated, which was exactly what Cait should have seen coming. Again, she’d followed her feelings and found herself buried in shit.

“I think _I’m_ going for a walk,” Bianca said coldly.

Cait watched as she angrily grabbed her glass, threw back the rest of her wine, and then shoved past her on her way to the elevator. This sort of anger wouldn’t fade away for days. At the very least, Cait had made travelling with the woman a very unpleasant experience for a while.

If she’d had any trace of a conscience, Cait would have called after her to say she was sorry. But she didn’t think she was.

The kiss had frightened her beyond caring about how the other woman felt. It had been too familiar, too calming, too _safe_. And Cait was worried she was starting to understand what that feeling was.

More specifically, she was worried she was starting to _have_ feelings.

And that, she decided, wouldn’t end well at all.


	11. Oswald the Outrageous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bianca and Cait set off to clear the next park: Kiddie Kingdom. And their relationship does appear to have gone a little sour...

It was almost as if they were back to square one.

After Bianca had returned from her purposefully long, angry walk, Cait had just been sitting at the bar alone, her back to her as she finished off the wine. And Bianca was perfectly fine with being ignored. She spent the rest of the night cleaning her weapons and re-bandaging the bullet wound on her side that constantly reminded her of Dogmeat. When it came to sleeping, she drifted off on the couch while Cait took the bed. They hardly spoke, and if they did, it was with discomfort and coldness.

The next morning, Bianca woke up still feeling angry. As she peered across the apartment at Cait, sitting on the edge of her mattress and injecting psycho into her arm as quietly as she could, Bianca remembered the conversation that they’d had in the Galactic Zone. Cait had been a slave for five years. She’d had people use her, do things to her that she refused to specify. To Cait, sex was probably just an instinctive urge, something that needed to be done but done without complications. That was what that aggressive kiss had been yesterday – the kiss that had very nearly made Bianca want to pick her up and take her right there up against the bar. But she’d been too surprised, too drunk to let herself get carried away.

When _she’d_ kissed Cait – that was when she’d insinuated that there were complications. And that was when Cait had freaked out and backed away.

So, technically, this was all Bianca’s fault. She should never have kissed the other woman back in the first place, never have made it seem like she was interested in any away, never allowed herself to briefly wonder what it would be like to have wild, passion-filled sex with the woman she was travelling with.

Now, again, they were back to being… acquaintances.

After a quick breakfast during which neither of them spoke much, they set off to clear out the next park: Kiddie Kingdom. It was to the right of Nuka Town USA, opposite the Galactic Zone, and already rumored by several raiders to be filled with ghouls. Bianca felt she was going to enjoy letting her anger out on them today.

 

Kiddie Kingdom was a park fenced in by a grey-brick wall, decorated with giant colored lollipops. Far within the depths of the park were jutting towers that Bianca assumed belonged to some kind of castle. They were about to enter her least favorite park by far – not just because of the stupid music she could already hear playing inside, or even the cheesy mascots and gaudy primary colors, but because it was the one park that was targeted specifically at children. And Bianca couldn’t help but imagine her life had the war not happened: bringing Shaun here when he was older, a boy of about seven or eight; letting him pose for photos with his favorite childhood characters; holding his hand when he got too scared in the funhouse; accompanying him on his favorite rides while Nate smiled and waved at them from down below.

Anything child-centric made Bianca think of Shaun. Since the Institute, she’d put so much effort into not thinking about him that any slight memory of what had happened made her stiffen with pain and anger. Therefore, clearing out this park would be similar to a nightmare.

As Cait and Bianca cautiously entered the park through the giant colored entrance, they realized instantly that something was wrong: the air was a thick soup of green-tinted fog. There was a faint smoke drifting at knee height, and Bianca’s Geiger-counter was quickly beginning to tick in warning, advising her to take some Rad-X to avoid the worst effects. Sighing, Bianca unslung one strap of her bag and dug out two injectors of the prevention drug. She passed one to Cait, and the woman just nodded her thanks, still maintaining her pointed silence.

“ _Well, now, friends_ ,” a distant voice called, hoarse and amused. “ _It seems we have some more uninvited guests visiting the park! Up! Up, performers! It’s time for another show! Though I doubt they’ll even make it to the theatre…”_  

“These people and their fucking intercoms,” Bianca snapped irritably. “Guess we’re heading to the theatre, then.”

The tell-tale gurgling and snarling of feral ghouls suddenly began to rise over the park’s music as the two women made their way further into Kiddie Kingdom, and both Cait and Bianca raised their guns warily.

“Think we can avoid the worst of them?” Bianca questioned dully.

Cait just grimaced and said, “To hell with sittin’ out of this one. I want a fight!”

The first few ghouls they saw were crouched by the gates of a Nuka rocket ride that was in full swing. As they hurled themselves towards Bianca, she let loose calmly with her railway rifle and silenced them immediately. Ghouls were the hell of a lot easier than people – they didn’t do much thinking or evading.

Cait tore through ghoul after ghoul with her shotgun, shouting snide and angry comments as she basically ripped them limb from limb. If anything, Bianca was at least glad that the woman had something else to take out her anger on.

They passed up a set of steps, executing ghouls left right and center, both working efficiently until one of the tall red water pipes ambushed them unexpectedly with a spray of radioactive chemicals that sent them reeling.

As Bianca coughed and tried to wipe the mist quickly from her face, eyes blurry and Geiger-counter ticking like crazy, Cait just scowled and glared at the pipes. “Fockin’ rad chemicals.”

“I thought you were pretty fond of chems,” Bianca muttered.

Cait stiffened like Bianca had just uttered a death threat. In a defensive growl, she returned, “You shouldn't make fun of people's addictions. It's not their fault.”

Instantly, Bianca felt a rise of guilt in her chest. Cait turned away from her and began walking, shoulders still stiff, face still set in a harsh scowl. She was right – of course she was right. And Bianca should have known that making jokes about Cait’s psycho addiction was way out of line, especially since the other woman had gone through so much effort to hide it from her.

Bianca joined her friend by the map and quietly said, “I’m sorry.”

Cait just shrugged, indifferent.

They ensured they were heading in the right direction and were off again, hunting down ghouls as they forged a path through the wreckage to the park’s theatre. Bianca’s Geiger-counter on her Pip Boy was steadily getting faster and louder.

“Oh, for God’s sake!” Cait snapped finally. “Make that noise stop!”

“It’s telling us what we need to hear,” Bianca protested.

“We don’t need to be _told_ anythin’ if we can _see_ the fockin’ radiation around our goddamned heads!”

“Fine.” Bianca turned down the dial on her Pip Boy, lowering the noise to a very faint beep that could barely be heard over the humming noise of the wind. “Better?”

“Well, I _can_ hear meself think now.”

They stopped just at the entrance to King Cola’s castle, having crossed the bridge, and Bianca told Cait to hang back as she firmly heaved the wooden doors open to reveal the castle’s courtyard beyond.

There were twin flashes of blinding orange light, and Bianca was thrown backwards by the force of explosives hitting the cobblestone at her feet. Rocks pelted her face and arms, most of them deflecting off her armor, but by the time she had stumbled to her feet, blinking through the smoke, she realized that her sunglasses had cracked. Sighing angrily, she tossed the glasses to the side and yanked her bandana down around her neck, realizing she’d been indirectly forced to show her face to a stranger for the first time. Somehow, she’d have to make this guy pay for that.

“Nice job, leadfoot,” Cait muttered snarkily. “Why don't I just shoot both of us in the head now and save us the trouble?”

Bianca ignored her, finally seeing their assailants through the haze: two missile turrets pointing right at the castle’s entrance. “Smart trick,” she murmured to herself.

The two women moved into the courtyard, silencing the ghouls that made an appearance with bullets to their skulls, wincing at the growls and wails they made in death.

“So much for a quiet approach,” Cait sighed.

Finally, they reached the theatre as shown on the map: a building which looked somewhat like the Memory Den from Goodneighbor at the front, with ruby red doors and a large sign indicating what they would find inside. When they went in, the doors swinging closed behind them, the theatre’s entrance was surprisingly silent. The lights overhead were buzzing with electricity, and there was distant rustling as if there were ghouls somewhere in the building, but otherwise Bianca felt like they were completely alone.

“Well… this is nice for a change,” Bianca said.

Cait glanced around nervously. “I don't know... when it's this quiet, it usually means the shite's about to hit the fan.”

They pushed open the doors, walking into the seating area, and found themselves facing a two-tiered stage. Dead ghouls were scattered in each row, sprawled in odd and painful ways.

Cait wrinkled her nose. “Disgustin'. Smells like the bathroom after Salisbury Steak night.”

Bianca had a feeling something very unusual was about to happen – should she take a seat? Just as she was about to, a tinny female voice commentated overhead: “ _And now… the show you’ve all been waiting for!”_

Cait chuckled, unimpressed.

“ _Oswald the Outrageous!_ ”

There was a loud BANG! up on the second tier of the stage, accompanied by a dark cloud of smoke. Out of it stepped a male figure in a top hat, and… he was a ghoul. The glowing, green-tinted kind – a beacon of radiation. Normally, Bianca would have been able to tell by the voice, but somehow she’d just thought of him as human. He didn’t look like the usual type of ghoul, either.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t think you’d make it this far,” Oswald called down to them, hoarse voice reverberating around the hall.

Cait grinned, apparently amused by the sight of him standing up there dressed like a zombie magician. “Hey, you're lookin' pretty rad sick. Better clear that up soon.”

The ghoul glared down at her. “I can tell you’re different than the usual invaders, so I’ll not bother with the usual tricks and illusions I use to scare off the superstitious.”

He tossed something hard at his feet, and there was another BANG! and another cloud of black smoke. By the time it had dissipated, Bianca could already tell he was gone.

“ _Really_ nice trick,” she said, impressed. Even before the war, Bianca had always been a fan of magic shows. She’d grown up with a grandfather who was a magician, and he’d been a pretty damn good one. Something about magic had always appealed to her, even though she knew it didn’t exist. Perhaps she just liked to believe in the supernatural.

Another BANG! and the cloud of smoke appeared right in front of the stage, Oswald stepping out of it with a gleam to his eye. Bianca had no idea how he’d managed to make it there so fast – obviously he wasn’t _actually_ teleporting, but… how else would he have made it so fast?

Even Cait seemed impressed now.

“When the bombs fell, everything changed,” Oswald began. “ _We_ changed. And somehow I received a gift: actual magic. The stuff of legends. Perhaps you’d like to see some?”

Bianca was about to make a sarcastic comment about superstition, but was rendered completely tongue-tied when the magician raised his hand quickly and she felt a wave of something – some energy – pass through her.

A split second later, all the dead ghouls in the audience began moving, climbing to their feet, growling.

Cait’s eyes widened. “Holy crap... is that for real? Never seen anythin' like it!”

“No matter what you do,” the man growled. “I can heal my friends, and we’ll protect what is ours.”

Bianca was forced to throw herself to the side as all the ghouls came running at them in unison, snarling like vicious animals. She lost count of how many railway spikes she shot, struggling to avoid their stench and their yellowed nails and teeth. By the time she and Cait had managed to clear the place out, Oswald was already gone, disappeared again into thin air.

“ _Sorry_ ,” came his voice over the intercom, “ _But I’m not going out that easily. The show must go on!”_

“This is _shite_!” Cait hissed, pressing her fingers to a nasty-looking cut on her forearm.

“Agreed.” Bianca began checking the ghoul corpses, re-collecting her railway spikes so that she could use them again. “You need help with that?”

“I’m fine,” Cait said quickly, dropping her hand from her arm and simply wiping the blood off on her t-shirt. “Just a scratch.”

“Sterilize it when we get back to Fizztop Grille.”

“ _If_ we get back,” Cait said, eyes flashing. “Whoever the fock this bloke is, he’s seriously messin’ with us.”

“In a pretty spectacular way.”

Cait rolled her eyes. “What, you a fan now?”

Bianca just straightened up, tucking the last of the railway spikes safely into her pocket, and then said, “Let’s go find him.”

 ---

They searched every building in the goddamn park looking for the ghoul, but he was nowhere to be found. Every time they speared or shot a feral and then came back later, the thing would be back on its feet and thirsty for blood. The whole deal was getting tiring.

It was after lunch, once Cait and Bianca emerged from clearing out the funhouse, when the magician finally decided to stop teasing them:

“ _Well, it seems your asinine assault won’t be dissuaded. I guess it’s time for our final act_. _Join me on the roof of King Cola’s castle, and we’ll see an end to this production_.”

Cait scoffed. “I don’t know about you, but this guy’s show is borin’ me shitless.”

“I’ve seen better,” Bianca agreed.

They made their way back to the castle, shooting the very same ghouls they’d had to clear out before. Whatever power this man had, it was definitely something Bianca had never seen before. She’d been certain all of those ghouls were very dead – railway spike through the head _dead_ – but the things kept on coming back brand new.

It was while they were in the lift heading up to the roof of the castle that Cait did something unexpected.

“You ready to talk about how unfair I've been to you? It's kind of bothering me.”

Bianca stared at the red-headed Irish woman, openly surprised, wondering if it was even possible that she’d heard those words come out of her mouth. “I… didn’t think you were unfair,” she stammered.

Cait’s lips quirked into a careful smile. “Don’t lie to me, General. Yer not good at it.” She tapped her finger against the barrel of her shotgun, eyes becoming distant. “I was drunk yesterday, and I was bein' a right jerk – I made things stale between us. So I’m wonderin’ if it’s possible to make everythin' go back to the way it was.”

“Of course it is,” Bianca said softly.

Cait appeared pleased, her eyes brightening. “Phew. I was expectin’ at least a little shite about it.”

“Sometimes it’s best to leave the past in the past.”

“Damn right!”

Cait sobered up quickly, again beginning to tap her hand against her shotgun, evidently nervous about something - something much more than just the sourness between them the whole day. That wasn’t all she’d planned to say.

“I… also wondered if we could talk when we get back to Nuka Town. It’s important.”

Bianca took a moment to search Cait’s face for answers to her sudden flurry of questions, but the woman was completely stoic.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked tentatively.

“I…” Cait sighed. “Better not to get into it now.”

“Alright.” But Bianca couldn’t help but feel concerned. Cait wouldn’t ask to speak with her and say it was important unless it was _really_ important. She wouldn’t have bothered to repair their relationship unless it was _really_ important.

So what was wrong?

Come to think of it, Cait had begun to look much more pale and gaunt recently, as if she wasn’t eating at all. And her eyes were constantly bloodshot from exhaustion, her hands constantly shaking when she wasn’t holding her gun. Bianca had noticed these things, but she’d refrained from asking simply because she knew how much Cait valued her personal space.

What if the other woman was really in trouble?

Bianca knew, even after their most recent argument, that she was determined to do anything for her friend. Risking her life was hardly a big deal if it meant she could see Cait looking a little bit happier and a little bit healthier. If she didn’t have to turn a blind eye whenever she saw Cait doing chems or whenever she saw her hunched over gasping for breath because they’d been running for too long and she wasn’t fit enough.

For Cait’s dignity and safety, Bianca would do anything.

They arrived on the theatre’s roof and exited the lift feeling much more secure in the idea that they had each other’s backs.

The ghoul was waiting for them patiently, a scattering of ghouls lying at his feet. His expression was positively murderous, and Bianca could see a new addition to his belt: a long, straight sword with a wickedly sharp blade. Sharp enough to rival Kremvh’s tooth. Cautiously, Bianca rested a hand on the hilt of her own blade, ready to unsheathe it at the slightest sign of trouble.

As they approached, the man growled, “You raiders are all the same. You come into someone’s home, steal their belongings and kill those they care about. I’m not going to let you kill any of my friends – this is _our_ home, not yours!”

“You realize yer friends are feral ghouls, right?” Cait returned.

“They’re not feral, they’re _sick_! They can’t help what they’ve become! It’s an illness, and it certainly doesn’t justify you trying to wipe us out!”

Which was true, as much as Bianca hated feral ghouls. It wasn’t their fault. She had no right to kill this magician and give his home willingly to raiders.

“We’ve defended this place for over two hundred years. Do you think you’re the first outsiders I’ve met who have chosen to brand ‘feral’ ghouls as monsters? How many of them have you needlessly slaughtered while ignorantly thinking you’re doing the world a favor?”

Both Bianca and Cait stared at him like he was insane.

Which was a fact. Because he was.

“Look, there’s no point in arguing anymore,” Bianca said tiredly. “Just leave.”

The ghoul smiled a strange smile. “Perhaps I _would_ leave, but I made a promise to keep this place safe until my Rachel finds the cure. My beloved left this place years ago to find a cure to this disease. In return, I swore that I’d keep our people safe by defending our home.”

Bianca thought for a moment, turning the situation around in her mind. “If there is a cure, the only way she’ll find it is with your help.”

Oswald’s eyes seemed to darken, become deeper, and he lost some of the viciousness from his face. All of a sudden, he was just an old man who had outlived his family.

All of a sudden, he was exactly like Bianca. Two hundred years old, defending a home and a people who had long ago lost their minds and changed beyond recognition. He didn’t have to die today – he could live, leave, find something better to live for than false hope. Even if this Rachel _was_ dead, at least Oswald would have his own life.

Oswald cleared his throat. “Maybe… maybe you’re right. If Rachel is still out there, I could find her and we could search for the cure together. I’ll gather up what’s left of my friends and we’ll leave this place in your care. Don’t worry about the radiation – it won’t be a burden to you and your kind.”

It almost felt too easy to be real. The ghoul was just… giving the park to them?

He looked very closely at Bianca and Cait, almost as if seeing them for the first time. And then, with a great flourish, he pulled the long shining sword from his belt and held it out to them. “Here, have this. Consider it an apology for misjudging you.”

Bianca turned her eyes to Cait, delivering her a small smile. _You take it_.

The Irish woman grinned like it was her birthday, grabbing the sword from the ghoul’s hands without even a word of thanks and holding it up to her eye to see her reflection in it. Bianca had a feeling she wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Thank you,” she told the ghoul genuinely.

“Farewell.” His hand left his pocket with a round black pellet, and before Bianca’s very eyes he again smashed it to the ground, creating a deafening BANG! and a cloud of dark smoke. Even before the smoke disappeared this time, Bianca knew he was gone.

She stared at the space he’d been standing, eyebrows raised, seriously starting to consider the possibility that he had been teleporting.

“That was awfully nice of you, General,” Cait said slowly, still playing with the sword. “Did you hit yer head or somethin’?”

Bianca scowled. “I was being fair. Besides… he thought we were raiders. I had to prove in some way that we weren’t like them.”

Cait nodded, considering this. “I was getting’ tired of slayin’ ferals anyway.”

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“You sure you don’t want to test that thing out?”

Cait looked down at her sword, a grin spreading along her face, and then turned fully to face Bianca, excitement gleaming in her eyes.

“What’ve you got in mind, General?”


	12. Try to Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait, after a while of struggling with herself, finally opens up to Bianca about her psycho addiction. Bianca decides they should do something about it right away.

Cait’s hyper-excitement from hacking apart ghouls very quickly began to fade as soon as they returned to Nuka Town. She’d gotten Bianca’s attention now; had told her she needed to talk about something important. There was no way she could just evade the upcoming conversation.

But she wanted to – _God_ , she wanted to. Cait was so jumpy that she could feel the shivering, restless anticipation in her bones. She kept imaging the worst to come, where Bianca would decide not to help her and she would continue to deteriorate until she was dead. She kept imagining disappointment, or disgust, or something worse: pity.

Cait, throughout her whole life, had never asked anybody for help. It was her number one rule, ever since she’d asked a caravan guard for help when she was a little girl, asked him to take her away from her parents, and he told on her to her father. She’d spent a whole night locked in the sweaty shed outside the farm, curled up and crying in the darkness. A bruise on the side of her face that never ceased its throbbing.

But Bianca had taught Cait to bend the rules a little bit since they began travelling together. The other woman had asked her to try to trust her, even though it was against her very nature, and there was little Cait could do at this point except do exactly what Bianca wanted.

They walked back to Fizztop Grille in silence, Cait with the reassuring weight of a new sword at her hip and the buzzing of anticipation filling her body.

Maybe Bianca would forget.

Once they’d arrived back in their apartment, having taken the lift, Cait could feel Bianca gazing at her out of the corner of her eye. Waiting, perhaps. She certainly hadn’t forgotten. But Cait quickly turned away and headed to the bed, knowing she wasn’t yet ready.

Bianca took the hint and busied herself counting ammunition and weapons, setting herself down at one of the tables by the view and laying out all her belongings on the surface. From afar, Cait watched her face, worrying herself to the point of chewing her nails down to the beds. She was itching for psycho, for a burst of energy and reassurance, but she’d taken _five_ shots that morning, one after the other. And on the way to Kiddie Kingdom, when Bianca had thought she’d gone to relieve herself in the bushes, she’d instead been throwing up blood and stomach acid. Burning like there was agonizing fire inside her, searing her until there was nothing left but the shell.

Cait knew when she had gone too far. This was  _much_ too far.

But still, she couldn’t initiate the conversation with her friend. Cait remained sitting on the bed, pretending to read one of Colter’s old comics, as Bianca finished sorting out her weapons and then left the apartment in search of Gage so she could retrieve a gang flag for Kiddie Kingdom. One park for the Operators now, and one park for the Disciples. The Pack, having been left out of the pickings for the second day in a row, had been muttering about them since they returned.

When Bianca came back from a jog to the park the hoist the flag, she was sweating and a little red in the face. From across the apartment, she stared at Cait for a split second, and then headed over to the corner bar and busied herself making dinner for the both of them.

Giving Cait space, as always.

Cait felt guilty for not trusting the woman. After everything they’d been through, she really should, but… something about what Bianca had said today had given Cait cause to hang back. Her snide remark about how much Cait liked chems – blatant disapproval.

Slapping the comic down on the bed beside her, Cait dug her fingers into her thighs as a wave of dizziness and nausea overcame her. She’d steadily begun sweating more and more throughout the day, her body yearning and aching for more psycho. Pleading her for it. Right now, she was in a blur of desire, hardly able to think about anything else.

Bianca was making Salisbury steaks and Instamash, and the smells wafting over almost made Cait want to throw up again. She wasn’t hungry. Today, she was just sick.

With shaking legs, Cait heaved herself to her feet, trying to maintain that usual bounce of energy in her step so as to not give anything away. As she made her way over towards the sickening smells of cooking dinner, Bianca glanced up at her. Cait knew she looked a right mess: sweaty hair sticking to her forehead, dark circles under her eyes, her skin pasty and pale. Was it not obvious enough already that Cait needed help? Could Bianca not just ask and make it easier for her?

Instead, all the other woman did was slide a plate over the counter towards her. “Hungry?”

Cait swallowed, her throat dry and aching. “Not really,” she said.

Bianca was silent; she didn’t push Cait to explain anything. She began to eat her own food slowly, chewing each forkful thoughtfully as she switched off the gas oven and leaned her elbows on the counter. There was an air of expectancy about her: she was still waiting.

Cait tried to eat, but every time she lifted the fork of Instamash to her mouth, she felt like vomiting. So she put it back down again. Finally, after a long struggle, Cait just pushed the plate away. “I guess prolonged ghoul stench has stolen me appetite.”

Bianca smiled faintly, but she didn’t believe Cait for one second. “Do you want to drink something?”

“I’ll just… have some water.” Cait pulled a can of purified water off the shelf. Bianca watched her as she struggled with opening it, her shaking fingers feeling as if they were made of lead. Finally, she had to use her fork. Bianca was looking more and more worried the longer the meal went on.

Finally, she’d finished her food too, and she was just staring at Cait intently. Her long, slender fingers were tapping on the counter top, the only sign of her impatience.

“Cait.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you… have something to tell me?”

Cait felt the dizziness rise up again and ground her teeth hard as she waited for it to pass. “Did I… did I say that?”

For a long moment, Bianca just continued to watch her. And then, disappointed, she straightened and grabbed the two plates, carrying them over to the sink. Just like that, the moment was over, and the anticipation was gone.

Cait watched miserably as Bianca dumped the leftover food in the bin, washed up the plates, and then delivered her a curt nod. “Goodnight, then.”

“Actually…”

Bianca paused, turning back to her. “Yes?”

Cait cleared her throat. “We’re… friends now. Which means I can trust you with anythin’. I’m also hopin’ it means you’ve got me back, ‘cause… God, I can’t believe I’m sayin’ this…”

“Go on,” Bianca urged gently.

“I… I need it now more than ever.”

Bianca assumed her alertness very quickly, eyes darkening as she walked around the bar and sat next to Cait on one of the stools. Not too close, but close enough that she looked like she was listening fixedly.

“I’m…” Cait took a deep breath, forcing herself to stop being a big baby – she needed Bianca’s help, and the woman knew it. “I’m… sick. And I don’t think I can hide it from ya anymore.”

Bianca sighed. “You shouldn’t need to hide anything from me.”

“I know I shouldn't, but I'm scared. I’m scared that you’ll hear the truth and I’ll lose you as a friend.” Cait pressed her fingers to her temples, frustrated. “God... I'm makin' a hell of a mess of this! I didn't think it'd be so tough.”

“You’ll never lose me as a friend,” Bianca reassured her kindly. “No matter what you say.”

“Damn you for bein’ so nice to me!” she growled.

Bianca just looked at her levelly, waiting for her to continue.

Cait paused to contain herself: “Ever since I left home, I’ve been usin’ psycho. I dunno why I'm still takin' that crap, but I can't stop... and believe me, I've tried. I can't even go a day without it anymore and I'm fuckin' sick and tired of it.”

Bianca was still watching her carefully, attentively, lips pressed together firmly as if to stop herself from speaking until she’d heard it all.

“I've even been doin' it behind your back.... sneakin' doses when I think you aren't lookin'. Worst of all, it's been makin' me sick. I've been spittin' blood and I don't feel right inside. I need to get this shite out of me system before I wind up dead.”

“Can your addiction be cured?” Bianca asked evenly.

“Normally a wasteland doc could handle it,” Cait clarified. “But I've been usin' the stuff so damn long they can't help me anymore. There's only one other way I know, but it's not gonna be easy.”

Bianca shifted, bringing her hands steadily together in her lap. “Okay… tell me.”

It was a stupid, crazy plan, but Cait had been hearing rumors about it even before they’d travelled to Nuka World. Raiders had joked about curing their addictions in the Combat Zone, and only Cait had listened in and taken it seriously.

“There's supposed to be a vault somewhere in the Commonwealth... a place called Vault 95. I've heard that Vault-Tec used it for some kinda social experiment... stuck a bunch of junkies inside to poke and prod. Well, they supposedly had some special method to clean up those blokes in there... some kind of a machine or somethin'. If we could get inside, maybe that machine could help me.”

Bianca stared at her for a second and then nodded quickly, as if she’d merely suggested a quick trip next door. “No problem – we’ll get you there.”

Cait blinked at her, again that wave of inexplicable dizziness taking over and making her vision blur a little, Bianca’s face swaying before her. She was a little shocked by the woman’s reaction. “I… can't believe how kind you're bein' to me, even when I'm lettin' you down.”

“You’re not letting me down,” Bianca said seriously. “I… I know that I said something stupid back at the park, about you and chems. I didn’t mean it. I _know_ that the addiction isn’t your fault, Cait. Look at me – I may not get addicted to drugs that easily, but I’ve been drinking ten times as much alcohol as I used to. Even I’ve got issues that need to be solved.”

Cait swallowed, looking down and picking at a tear in her jeans. Silence hung between them for a few long seconds, and then she muttered, “Look, I don't want you to think I'm some kind of lowlife junkie... a stupid girl who's harmin’ herself fer no good reason. From one friend to another, all I'm askin' is for yer help. When you're ready, when you think we can leave this place without bein’ killed… take me out to Vault 95 and help me put an end to me pain.”

Bianca’s eyebrows lowered. “We could go now.”

“ _No_ , we couldn’t,” Cait said quickly. “You’ve made two of the gangs happy, but one of ‘em’s goin' to wanna cut off yer head if you leave without givin’ them what they want.”

“The Pack is under control,” Bianca said determinedly. “Cait, if you’re this sick, you need that cure _now_. Addictions only get worse, and you’ll end up dead.”

Cait was in strong disagreement with the idea of leaving now – not only because she felt the raiders might just stop them and try to kill them, but because she was also afraid that they would travel to this vault and there would be nothing there. And then she’d be stuck with the terrible truth that she was going to die because of something she was doing to herself. Not a heroic death at all; more like suicide. Like hanging over the edge of a cliff on a rope she’d greased herself.

“I’m going to help you,” Bianca said frankly. “And I’m going to do it now. You really think I’ll survive out here if I don’t have you watching my back?”

It was a mild attempt at a joke, making Cait smile despite herself. Of course Bianca would survive – she was very good at it. But whether she wanted to or not was a different matter.

“Okay,” Cait said reluctantly. “I just… hope you know what you’re doin’, General.”

“I do. I’ll talk to Gage now, see what he can do to keep the gangs calm while we’re gone.” Bianca was already on her feet, heading over to the table to grab her gun. “Just be ready when I get back.”

“We’re leavin’ at night?” Cait asked incredulously.

“Yeah.”

“How do you expect us to fight if we can’t see a damn thing?”

“Where’s your optimism?” Bianca grinned, stepping into the lift. “Maybe there won’t be a fight.”

“I’m not exactly known for me optimism,” Cait muttered.

As Bianca clicked the lift’s button and disappeared from view, off to get them a way out of Nuka World, Cait stood up, drawn like a fly to light as she stumbled over to the bed and her bag. With shaking hands, she yanked out a psycho applicator, shutting her eyes tightly as she squeezed it into the crease of her arm and felt the delicious energy filling her again, her body softening with pleasure. She grabbed another, doing the same.

If she was lucky – incredibly lucky – by the time she returned from Vault 95, she’d be a new woman. And there would be no chems in her bag at all.

\---

Gage was not at all happy with the fact that they were heading out of Nuka World so soon. He had practically threatened Bianca: for now, he would deal with whatever came up with the gangs, step in if he needed to; but if they didn’t return in a week, he would be sending raiders out to find them and bring them back… dead or alive.

Bianca took the deal happily. If she’d been looking for a legitimate reason to leave Nuka World and her new raider subjects, Cait had given her a perfect one. She would help her friend, make her better again, and maybe see how the Minutemen were doing while they were in Commonwealth – tuning into Radio Freedom was all it took, and unfortunately the only radio station playing in Nuka World was one that raiders had hacked. Bianca had grown tired of the same parodies of tunes, replacing words with ones that described sex and murder.

But the main reason, of course, was helping Cait. It was their number one priority. Bianca didn’t know how it felt to be that addicted to a drug, but from how Cait had been deteriorating, she knew it must be pretty terrible. And she was close enough to the woman that she’d begun to seriously hate the psycho’s aftereffects.

Gage powered up Nuka Express to return them to the Commonwealth, again warning them that they had a week to do what they needed to do. Bianca thanked him – what else could she do? – and then they were off, the train rattling on the tracks as it whizzed back the way they came, leaving the fortress of Nuka World far behind. For now.

They were sitting across from each other on the same seats as their first journey, quiet and losing themselves in the sound of the train’s wheels chugging over the tracks. This time, rather than seeing the Commonwealth lit by afternoon sunlight, there was just darkness outside the train’s window. By the time Nuka World was completely out of sight, there was no light at all except for inside the train’s carriage.

Bianca was having that lost-limbed feeling again as she looked down, expecting Dogmeat to be there. But he was dead. Gone.

Bianca was returning to the Commonwealth without him, and it felt so wrong that she almost thought she felt heat burning in the backs of her eyes, warning her of tears to come. But she hadn’t cried for a long time, and she wasn’t about to cry now.

She glanced up at Cait, the woman staring out of the window with her eyes glassy from the psycho shots that morning, and decided that she wouldn’t let someone else die while travelling with her. It would be too hard losing Cait too.

  
They pulled into Nuka World Transit Station after an hour, the train screeching to a stop, the doors sliding open as that friendly female voice thanked them for visiting the theme park. When they passed where Harvey’s corpse once lay, there was nothing left but a dried splotch of blood. The raiders hadn’t tried getting more people in for the Gauntlet; it seemed that Bianca’s overruling hate for the course had put them off for now.

It was only once they’d left the station and were outside in fresh air, looking around carefully to ensure no enemies were surrounding them, that Bianca allowed herself a small smile. Since the war, she’d begun to feel that the Commonwealth – and the tiny expanse of land it consisted of – was her whole world. Anything outside of it felt miles away.

Now, she was back home.

Even Cait seemed revitalized by their return, back to her usual snarky self as they navigated their way out of the transit station and began – with help from Bianca’s Pip Boy – their journey in the direction of Vault 95. To her luck, it turned out that all Pip Boys had a comprehensive map of the vaults in the region; she had them marked from Vault 81 to Vault 111, scattered all throughout the Commonwealth. It seemed that vault dwellers had been expected to be aware of other survivors like them.

From Fizztop Grille, they’d salvaged some new and improved sleeping bags, a hotplate to cook on, and pretty much all the caps and bullets Colter had owned. By the time the sun was beginning to rise, purpling the sky and thickening the air with radioactive mist, Bianca and Cait were setting up camp just like they used to. Bianca built a fire using the hotplate, scouted the area and set traps, and then joined Cait to have some breakfast.

Cait ate nothing again. After Bianca had tried to cajole her into eating some mutfruit, she’d simply gotten to her feet and walked away, her legs stiff and her face looking green. Bianca had a sickening feeling that she was throwing up blood again.

They slept for a few hours until the sun came up fully, both well-enough hidden below the highway that they felt no one needed to keep watch. Still, without Dogmeat, Bianca essentially felt blind.

After waking up, while Cait was off washing her face in the pond nearby (and probably injecting more psycho), Bianca played with the dials on her Pip Boy until she could hear the jaunty tune of Radio Freedom playing out of the speakers. The laid-back voices of Minutemen came as a joy to her compared to rough raider tones. Apparently, there were several settlements that needed help, but Minutemen had already been dispatched to deal with them. Ghouls and mirelurks, mainly. Raiders and super mutants seemed to have laid off since Bianca left the Commonwealth.

Once Cait returned from the pond, they packed up camp and moved on, moving steadily across sweeping hills, passing towns that had long ago been reduced to rubble. The sun was beating down mercilessly now, and Cait was sweating and dragging her feet – but she refused to stop. With Vault 95 in mind, it almost seemed like she was putting all the rest of her strength into getting there. But she wouldn’t last very long if she wasn’t eating and constantly losing blood. Bianca needed to find a way to force her if the girl wouldn’t do it herself.

They were heading towards the northeast edge of the Glowing Sea, an area Bianca had been through a few times. She’d even set up a settlement around there, near where Vault 95 was said to be located. Good thing they were heading somewhere familiar, or Bianca wouldn’t be trusting her Pip Boy one bit.

While they were walking, to encourage and entertain Cait, she told the other woman her story about trekking through the Glowing Sea on a quest to find banished Institute scientist Brian Virgil. Cait didn’t admit it, but Bianca reckoned she was thankful for the distraction.

They stopped at night in an abandoned country house, shooting some ghouls before moving in and building their camp as always. This time, when Cait refused her meal, Bianca just snapped at her to stop acting like a child. Angrily and reluctantly, the other woman nibbled on a carrot and then went to bed early, sleeping with her back firmly to Bianca. She could be angry all she wanted… as long as she survived.

The second day was spent passing an elliptically-shaped lake bordered by quaint old houses and a church. Cait was looking even worse, walking much slower than the day before, her eyes glazed-over with the look of a junkie on death row. At times, Bianca even had to grab her arm and propel her along to make sure she kept up a steady pace and didn’t fall over. And then they’d stop for lunch, Cait would disappear, and when she returned she’d suddenly be bursting with fiery energy again.

Chems were a mystery. Then again… they really weren’t.

At the pace they were going, Bianca predicted they’d arrive outside Vault 95 by midday on their third day of travelling. And they’d have to expect a fight – none of the vaults she’d visited had been left empty. Something would have moved in, and like Oswald in Kiddie Kingdom, that something would want to protect its livelihood.  
  
They slept in an abandoned junkyard when it got dark, exterminating some troublesome mole-rats and taking cover inside a rusted caravan. No fire this time, so they sat in the dark and tried to eat, anticipating their arrival at the vault the next day. The red-haired Irish woman was uncharacteristically silent, pale-faced in the darkness, her eyes reflecting the light of Bianca’s Pip Boy. Bianca wondered what was going through her mind, but she feared she already knew.

It was likely similar to what Bianca had felt while she got closer and closer to finding Shaun: what if this was what was keeping her going? What if when she found what she wanted, she no longer had inspiration to live, fight, survive? What if finding Shaun was all she had left?

Bianca would have to prove to Cait that psycho wasn’t all she had left; that there was more to life, and to her, than a chem that had taken over her body.

The next morning, they rolled up their sleeping bags in silence, packing them back in bags and slinging straps over shoulders. Again, Cait left the caravan to do what she always did in the mornings, leaving Bianca waiting.

When she came back, her face was set in an expression of dim determination. “That’s the rest of it,” she said.

Bianca stared at her. “But psycho normally lasts you…”

“I needed more,” Cait said, her voice a little helpless. “When it fades later, I’ll keep meself up – I promise. But I needed it.”

Bianca nodded slowly. “I believe you. Do you... think you can move faster this morning? So we can arrive earlier?”

“Yeah.” Cait stuck her shoulders back, lifting her chin. “I can.”

So they set off, slightly faster than their usual snail’s pace, Cait maintaining her speed even as they passed a small nest of ghouls and a couple of shifty radstags that attempted to charge them. She was giving it all she had, and Bianca was proud of her intense effort. If life was in any way fair, Cait would get what she wanted in Vault 95, and she would walk away feeling like it had all been worth it.

Her Pip Boy notified her that they were approaching Vault 95 at about the same time Bianca caught sight of silver beacon light against the tree branches ahead of them and heard the whirring of a turret somewhere off to their right. She also heard a low, buzzing robotic voice:

“ _Anomaly detected… scanners detecting sentient life_.”

Bianca grabbed Cait and dragged her behind a tree, realizing all of a sudden what they were about to head into. Assaultrons weren’t often found out in the Commonwealth unless they operated for the Gunners. Gunners meant there would be dangerous turrets, too, and other terrifying robots that could tear them down instantly. Gunners _also_ meant high-charge laser pistols and assault rifles.

They were packed with fire power, and Cait and Bianca were both drowsy and weak from their long journey. They had swords and rifles, and that was it. For this one, they were going to need to use their brains as well as their guns.

“Gunners again?” Cait hissed.

“I need you to take these…” Bianca handed her a small sack of Colter’s grenades from her bag. “… and climb that hill over there – you see where it cuts off? That’s the top of the vault’s entrance.”

“Okay, and then what?”

“Choose a good time to raise hell,” Bianca said with a wink. She checked the ammo in her railway rifle and then turned to press her hand momentarily into Cait’s shoulder. “Just try not to blow me up, alright?”

“How come you get to be the one goin’ for a full-frontal assault?” Cait grumbled.

“We both know why. Now get up there – oh, and please make sure you aim for the _robots_ with those grenades. I can take care of the Gunners.”

“Anythin’ else, cap’n?”

“No. All good.”

Cait shot her a smirk and then disappeared into the undergrowth, stealthily making her way up towards the hill. Bianca hunkered down to watch and wait, knowing that the time she broke her cover was vital. All the Gunners would rain fire on her, and she’d have to run like hell.

As usual, her motto was _Anything for Cait_. Even if she got riddled with bullets and ended up bleeding out right outside the vault, at least she would have done her job and gotten the woman a step closer to a life without chems. That would be enough, she decided.

After all, without even Dogmeat now, what else did she have to live for?

Settlements were a job, but they were tiring. The Minutemen were restless, never stopped asking for favors and expecting hard work. The Railroad were still hidden in an underground tunnel, Bianca’s synth son safely in their clutches. Nuka world was filled with hardy raiders, several of which would be suitable for the job of Overboss. The world would go on without her, just like it had for two hundred years before she emerged from the vault.

She could see the red of Cait’s hair and the white of her t-shirt as she began climbing the hill, propelling herself on hands and feet with the sack of grenades thrown over one shoulder. Something buzzed in Bianca’s stomach – a feeling she couldn’t quite identify. She couldn’t take her eyes off the other woman as she made her ascent and finally stopped just on the peak, peering over onto the vault’s roof, skillfully keeping herself hidden while she spied on some of their Gunner targets. A white face turned towards Bianca, and she got a discreet thumbs-up. Her fingers tightened around the rifle so hard that her knuckles lost blood beneath the skin and her fingers began to ache.

It was time.


	13. Vault 95

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait and Bianca break into the vault swarming with Gunners with only one target in mind: find the machine and cure Cait's addiction. Later, upon returning to Nuka World, they find themselves faced with a tantalizing decision which could change the fate of all of Nuka World's inhabitants.

The moment Bianca broke her cover and began sprinting straight for the vault, she heard the instant whirring up of the assaultron as it spotted her and took chase – she also heard surprised shouts and the cocking of all sorts of weapons. In a second, whether Bianca fought hard or not, she would be dead.

And then, as Bianca heard the assaultron closing in behind her, there was the miraculous sound of something hard deflecting off metal, and she threw herself roughly to the ground just as the grenade blew up, sending dirt and grass flying in all directions. The assaultron was hit spot-on by the blast, tossed like a limp puppet towards the vault where it began to short-circuit, juddering and flashing with electricity. Bianca threw an arm over her head as it blew up as well in an orange ball of fire, taking several eager Gunners with it. And then, ears ringing, she yanked herself back to her feet and switched from evasive to full-on attack.

Bianca began firing wildly with her railway rifle, piercing arms, legs and heads as the Gunners at the vault’s entrance began to fall back. She could see Cait on the roof, combatting one of the raiders who had been keeping watch, but she didn’t seem to need backup just yet. Bianca felt the adrenaline of battle filling her veins and the throb of her heart in her ears, her senses sharpening automatically.  

She dodged out of the way, dropping into a roll as the two turrets spotted her and opened fire. Then there was an enraged – and familiar – yell, another click of metal hitting metal, and the BANG! of a grenade explosion returned the ringing to Bianca’s ears. Cait was a pure marksman when it came to grenades. The turrets hadn’t stood a chance.

As Bianca dragged herself to her feet, she could see Cait throwing herself down the stairs to the vault’s entrance, opening fire with her shotgun as the Gunners made to put up a last stand. Bianca began sprinting towards their final assailants to back her, dodging up the steps that led into the open vault and unsheathing her sword at the same time. A female Gunner with smudges of face paint across her cheeks made to fire desperately at Bianca, and she felt one or two bullets slamming into her armored chest, but she didn’t stop; her sword swung as soon as she was close enough, and the woman’s head was severed completely from her neck, sent flying in a spray of blood.

Cait finished off the last Gunner with her own sword, impaling him through the stomach with the blade tilted upwards towards his ribcage. He crumpled, groaning, and the woman straightened with an ecstatic grin. “Could at least have given us a challenge, hey?”

Bianca would have replied were she not hunched over trying to get her breath back, picking the flattened bullets from where they’d lodged in her armor. She felt as if she had at least one cracked rib – maybe even broken – from bullets fired at such close range.

“Hey – you okay?” Cait asked, walking over as she sheathed her bloody sword.

“Yep,” Bianca gasped unconvincingly.

Cait reached over and straightened her forcefully, yanking at her shoulders with both hands, green eyes stern as she said, “Open up yer chest more so you can breathe, genius.”

Bianca took a few deep breaths, finding that the other woman was right – her lungs had more space to expand now, even though it hurt. She let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Cait glanced around at the fallen Gunners around them. “Only two more grenades left, I’m afraid. And… I’m outta bullets.”

Bianca watched as she tossed her beloved shotgun to the ground and began rifling around for a new weapon. She finally came up with a laser pistol and a handful of fusion cells. “This’ll do.”

“Here.” Bianca handed her all the fusion cells she’d collected over her time in the Commonwealth, enough to last ten more of these battles. “I’m never going to use them.”

Cait shoved the fusion cells into her own pack, practicing holding the pistol level, aiming at a spot on the wall. Finally, she lowered it, pleased with herself, and turned to Bianca. Despite the deep bruise-like circles under her eyes and the stark white of her skin, she was actually looking much better now. Healthier, almost. Perhaps the battle had given her all the energy she needed.

“You ready?” Bianca asked carefully.

“Sure.”

Cait made to hand her back the bag of grenades, but Bianca stopped her. “No… I think you’ve got it.”

Cait grinned, even more pleased with herself.

They stepped into the lift together, bracing themselves in the darkness as the doors closed and Bianca fumbled with the control panel. It began moving, screeching on its ropes, and Bianca heard Cait’s fingers tapping on her gun again.

_Tap, tap, tap…_

There would be many more Gunners inside the building than outside. However “easy” Cait had thought their most recent battle had been, this one would prove to be a challenge.

The elevator stopped, a pleasant voice announcing, “ _Lower level._ ”

As the doors slid open, Bianca was – as she had been in Vault 88 as well – overcome with a wave of dread and nausea. She’d never forget the vault that had ruined her life. She’d never forget the burning frustration, the tears that froze on her cheeks, the aching pain in her bones as she was frozen and re-frozen like leftovers from dinner. As they shot her beautiful husband point-blank in the head and took her baby from his arms. It hurt still like an open wound, and Bianca was beginning to think it would never heal.

They stepped out of the elevator into a very old, broken-down interior. The walls were uniform vault blue, lined with strips of yellow and white. None of the overhead fluorescent lights were working, so the Gunners instead had set up a barrel in the corner of the hallway that was filled with old pieces of wood and fabric, burning constantly and throwing odd shapes and fiery colors. It set a very dramatic scene.

Bianca could hear the mumuring of voices just around the corner, accompanied by the robotic tones of a Mr Handy and another assaultron. The Gunners had likely heard some of the action that was going on above – they were preparing for an infiltration, an attack. Bianca and Cait had lost the surprise factor.

Quietly, Bianca raised a finger to her lips and then gestured at the criss-cross of two laser trip-wires that had spread across the hallway. “Only disarm one of them,” she whispered.

Cait frowned but did as she was told, crouching low and scooting over to the closest tripwire box. Bianca watched as she carefully unscrewed it with her same pocketknife, sliced at a few wires, and then shot her a thumbs-up.

Next, Bianca beckoned for Cait to pass her one of the last few grenades – pulse grenades this time, which could fry any robotic circuit in their blast radius. As Bianca pulled the pin off the grenade, she scooted as close as she could towards the corner of the hallway without alerting the Gunners and peered around into the vault’s atrium.

It was rather dark, lit with the same barrels of fire, but she could see the shapes of their enemies pacing around among tables and beds, muttering to each other. Two machine gun turrets were braced to the wall way up above – she’d need to be able to concentrate if she were to take them out.

Now though, with the pulse grenade still locked in hand, Bianca targeted the two robots she’d heard. They were pacing in opposite directions, but in a few seconds they would cross paths, providing the perfect opportunity.

She waited, the seconds ticking past, holding the spoon tight to the grenade. The moment the assaultron and the Mr Handy were barely a foot from each other, she drew her arm back and tossed the grenade as hard as she could at them. All the Gunners were alerted at once, shouting and raising their weapons, but the bomb exploded with a CRASH! before they could start shooting at Bianca, who slipped back into the cover and jogged to join Cait by the elevator.

The two robots had exploded in a mess of sizzling metal pieces and a cloud of thick smoke plumed in the entrance to the atrium, screening Cait and Bianca momentarily as they retreated. Bianca smirked at her friend and then beckoned for her to watch the proceedings.

Most of the Gunners had tried shooting through the smoke, but to no avail – they had to get through it if they wanted to reach their targets. They came around the corner, just figures in the smoke, sweeping their guns. The moment the first Gunner saw Bianca and Cait crouching by the lift, he let out an alerting shout for his comrades.

And then he stepped forwards.

The second tripwire, partly concealed by the smoke as well, flashed bright red and let out a piercing beep as the tesla arc – a deadly trap that could stop a man’s heart in a second – began doggedly firing jets of electricity all around the hallway. There were multiple screams and groans of pain as several of the Gunners were hit by the electricity, collapsing to the floor and twitching, their bodies spasming out of their control. One by one, they stilled, the odor of burning flesh joining the gunpowdery scent of grenade smoke.

Cait looked at Bianca with an expression that told her she was the most awesome person in the world.

Together, they stood and passed the collapsed bodies into the atrium, most of their enemies already good and dead. Just as Bianca had required, she now had all the concentration she needed to take out the turrets. As they began firing, bullets ripping into mattresses and tables, sending up feathers and chips of wood into the air, Bianca and Cait crouched behind one of the Gunner barricades, protecting their heads with their arms. When the turrets paused to reload, Bianca drew herself up, aimed her rifle at one of them, and fired on her exhale.

The turret exploded instantly, her railway spike penetrating the oil tank. Bianca ducked back down as the other turret began firing again, reloading her railway rifle as bullets rattled against the tough green metal of the barricade.

Again, the turret stopped to reload, and again Bianca straightened and sent a perfectly aimed shot right at their final robotic assailant.

Cait stood up once the explosion had dissipated and then looked around, grinning. “Do ya think that’s it?”

“No.” Bianca slung her rifle over one shoulder and jogged up the stairs to see if she could salvage the railway spikes. One of them was bent out of shape, but the other was still aligned enough to fit in the rifle. She tucked it into her pocket. “So do you know where in the vault this machine is?” she inquired.

Cait shrugged. “I was thinkin’ they’d have blueprints or somethin’. Or that we’d just search around and find it.”

“The more searching we do, the more Gunners we’ll find.” Bianca frowned, looking into the door beneath where the turrets had been bolted to the wall. “Blueprints, though…”

Cait followed her as she entered the receptionists’ office, searching the desk. Finding nothing, she headed further into the room and climbed the stairs into the Overseer’s old office instead. She stopped in the doorway, a little surprised at what she’d found.

“Looks like they had their support meetings at the Overseer’s office,” Cait remarked, entering the room behind her. “Sittin’ around and tellin’ other people my problems isn’t my idea of fun.”

There were about fifteen chairs laid out in a large circle in front of the Overseer’s desk, and most of them were occupied with vault suit-wearing skeletons. There seemed to be a lot of coffee cups littered around their feet.

Bianca was no stranger to the tests that Vault Tec used to run on their vault inhabitants. She’d been subject to one, and Curie had been involved in one. There was a definitely a story here, and if she put all the facts together – the addiction-healing machine, the caffeine everywhere, the support meeting up here – she could almost see what the test here had been about.

The inhabitants of this vault had likely been junkies, and Vault Tec had been working on clearing up their addictions. Which was… surprisingly helpful, to say the least.

Bianca passed the circle and stooped by the Overseer’s desk, opening and closing drawers until she found exactly what she was looking for: a map. Only the Overseer would keep a blueprint of the whole vault closeby – he or she would need to keep an eye on things, after all.

Bianca kneeled down on the floor, spreading out the map, and Cait peered over her shoulder as she used a pencil to mark where they were before she began examining each room on the blueprint.

“What the hell is that?” Cait asked, suddenly baffled.

She was pointing at a tiny space that wasn’t quite a room – a little box that was cut off from the rest of the vault and labelled “Hidden Stash”. Bianca’s mind worked fast and came up with an explanation. She let out a sigh, glancing up at the dead bodies of the inhabitants as she said, “That must have been the twist to their experiment. They cured the residents of their addictions and then… they unearthed a supposedly ‘hidden’ stash so they could see what happened psychologically and socially to the junkies when they began to fight over the chems.”

Cait was very openly disgusted, and Bianca didn’t blame her. As someone who was suffering from an addiction herself, to see someone taking advantage of those like her was like a punch to the gut.

Bianca glanced down at the map again and then circled an area with her pencil. “This one.”

“Huh?” Cait leaned closer.

“The one that says ‘Detox Facility’,” Bianca explained. “In the Facilities Wing – all we have to do is get past that door.”

Cait nodded, and together they left the office, jogging back down the stairs and out into the atrium. At the bottom of the stairwell, they turned right, coming up to the Facilities Wing door that had been marked on the map. Cait jammed her fist onto the button but there was a resounding beep that signified it was locked.

“Damnit,” she muttered. “I’m afraid this isn’t one I can pick.”

Bianca just grinned, striding over to the terminal. “Don’t worry – I’ve got this.”

Computers hadn’t used to be Bianca’s thing; in fact, she’d been very cynical about technology before the war. However, she’d learned that hacking into systems was very much something she could become easily good at. The terminal systems were all built similarly, the same pre-war outdated technology that had only just begun exploring the idea of privacy before the bombs fell. Passwords were commonly simple words, provided by the computer factory and unlocked with a cipher key.

And finding that cipher key was Bianca’s forte.

“Come on – you’re wastin’ yer time with that thing,” Cait complained impatiently as her friend got to work.

It took a few minutes of searching before Bianca found how many letters the password contained; then, with a few quick taps of her fingers, she discovered the password itself.

The door unlocked with a loud click, sliding open, and Cait shook her head, nonplussed. “Well, you made that look like child's play,” she said slowly. “Always thought those terminals were a waste of time.”

Bianca shrugged. “You’re good at locks, I’m good at computers. Perfect team, aren’t we?”

“Guess so.” Cait looked at her with a flicker of wariness in her eyes and then shook her head again and raised her pistol. “Let’s get in there and find this machine.”

 ---

After a quick firefight in a cafeteria with some very surprised Gunners, blowing up more turrets, and climbing a few half-collapsed sets of stairs, Bianca and Cait found themselves outside a door labelled ‘DETOX FACILITY’.

Cait was very jittery, sweating and shaking with the tell-tale effects of a craving for psycho. She’d been fighting well, but Bianca feared she wouldn’t make it far enough if she had to face the people on the other side of this door.

She stopped before entering the terminal, turning to her friend, and said, “Look… maybe let me take care of these guys.”

Cait’s bloodshot eyes landed on her, firm and angry. “Not a chance,” she snapped.

The woman may be starting to weaken, but she was made to fight – even without psycho, she was refusing to sit this one out.

Without another word, Bianca turned to the terminal of the Detox Facility and unlocked the door.

“Hey – you hear that?” came a male voice from inside.

“Take position,” another barked.

Bianca and Cait burst into the room like demons from hell, letting loose with bullets and blasts as they came face to face with their final adversaries. One of them was a short, stocky man with a thick-barreled combat rifle; the other was a lean woman with sunglasses, an insignia on her uniform implying that she was some sort of commander. Behind them, already warming up, was an old-fashioned machinegun turret.

“Get down!” Bianca shouted, grabbing Cait’s shoulder and tossing her to the ground behind a desk as bullets began to fly, riddling the walls and the furniture with fiery bullets. Bianca felt one of them pass straight through her calf and let out a growl of pain, attempting to shoot back one-handed.

The male Gunner had been caught in the fire and crumpled immediately to the floor, but the commander had backed up towards the clean room, injecting herself with a stimpack. Bianca, feeling her vision tunneling as the pain in her leg began to increase, threw herself across the room towards the woman, hands around her neck, crashing them both to the ground as the machinegun turret continued to hail them with bullets.

Another of them pierced Bianca’s shoulder through the armor straps, but she was too focused on choking the life out of the other woman to react.

This was the final lap before success, and she wasn’t about to come last.

The woman was kicking her repeatedly, targeting her leg wound, but all Bianca could concentrate on was the bulging eyes and reddening face as the woman slowly asphyxiated below her, her struggles becoming weaker and weaker.

An explosion tore through the room, causing the turret to spread in fiery pieces and land scattered all around them. And then Cait’s hands were on Bianca’s armor straps, pulling her backwards and off the other woman with surprising strength.

Bianca, destructively frustrated, jabbed her elbow into the woman’s solar plexus as she finally allowed Cait to move her out of the way. As Cait delivered two hard shots with her laser pistol to the woman’s skull, Bianca used the railing of a medical examination chair to pull herself agonizingly to her feet, gasping from the pain.

It was over. They were here, and they’d killed all the Gunners in their way. All that was left was the clean room and the machine that would supposedly cure Cait’s addiction.

Cait nudged the commander’s body with her boot and then dashed over to hook an arm under Bianca’s shoulders, helping her limp over to the terminal by the clean room’s observation window. Her bullet wounds were excruciatingly painful, made worse by the brand of bullets that turret had been firing, but she was convinced that they were just flesh wounds.

“Hang in there,” Cait said, setting her against the desk and grabbing a stimpack off one of the surgical trays in the room.

Warm blood was steadily soaking Bianca’s BOS uniform and armor, and she gritted her teeth as Cait jabbed the stimpack’s needle into the sensitive skin of her arm. As the pure, calming fluid began to soak through her, she sighed in wonderful relief.

“Thanks.”

Cait searched her eyes, setting the ejected stimpack needle on the desk. “You okay?”

“I am now.” Bianca hadn’t meant it sound flirty, but that was somehow the tone that had left her mouth. She cleared her throat, avoiding Cait’s somewhat surprised and smug smile.

“So… here we are,” she said pointedly.

Cait’s eyes drifted past her, staring hesitantly through the observation window at the simple chair sitting inside. It looked more like a torture device than a cure: a hardened seat with restraints and two chunky, extremely thick needles set on either side of the headrest.

“The answer to me problems is sittin’ in that room,” she said, almost disbelievingly.

“ _And_?”

“I… I dunno if I should go through with it.”

Bianca narrowed her eyes at the woman, catching her wrist in an iron grip. There was no way, after all of this, that she was going to allow Cait to back away from something that would save her life.

“Don’t you want to get better?” Bianca demanded.

“I don’t know,” Cait muttered, frustrated. “Me body’s tellin’ me to get it over with, but what if the psycho’s the only thing keepin’ me together? What if this opens me eyes and I don’t like what I see?”

“Cait…”

“There were reasons I dulled the pain! Things I didn’t want to face… things I was tryin’ to forget. I’d rather be spittin’ blood than relivin’ the past-”

“ _Cait._ ”

The woman stopped talking, staring at her blankly.

“We’ll face that pain together,” Bianca said seriously. “You’re not alone in this, remember?”

Cait’s gaze softened, and she extracted her wrist from Bianca’s grip only to very lightly press her fingers into her hand instead. As if she needed the warm reassurance of her touch.

“You… you’ve already done so much for me, but you keep offerin’ to do more.”

Bianca was wondering when Cait would stop seeing her kindness as a surprise. It was time she caught on already.

“Surely it’s obvious that I wouldn’t be so happy about losing you,” Bianca said dryly.

Cait’s lips curved into a smile – not a smirk, or a smug grin, but a _genuine_ smile. She nodded imperceptibly, drawing her hand away from Bianca’s, setting her jaw.

“Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth, eh?” she said resolutely. “I’m gonna sit in the chair. Whenever you’re ready… throw the switch.”

Bianca watched as the woman rounded the railing and entered the room, taking a deep breath before she sat herself down on the chair under the harsh white spotlight, placing her hands on the half-curves of the arm braces. She was still looking decidedly green and pale, but she seemed to be a firm believer that this would work.

Bianca, favoring her left shoulder, bent over the terminal and logged in, selecting the ‘Initiate Toxin Purge’ action. If this didn’t work, or if it backfired in some way, she had no idea how to stop it.

It _had_ to work.

Her eyes were drawn suddenly up to the observation window as the door to the clean room slammed shut, locking her out, and the braces closed over Cait’s arms and legs with multiple clicks. The other woman’s eyes widened, her head pressing hard back into the seat.

And then came the first scream.

Well, not a scream, really – more like an extended shriek of agonizing pain. A sound that Bianca had never heard Cait make before, no matter how injured she got.

The injectors had punctured her neck on either side, the thick needles moving steadily in and out of her flesh as they delivered a substance directly into her biggest arteries. And from the absolutely shell-shocked and excruciated expression on Cait’s face, Bianca could almost feel herself how badly it hurt.

She wanted to tear the door open, run inside and force the restraints open, releasing the woman from the machine, but there was nothing she could do. She just stood there and watched in frenzied frustration as blood ran down either side of Cait’s neck and she tugged at the restraints like a madwoman.

The needles didn’t stop moving for a full minute, during which Cait’s voice had retreated to small moans of child-like pain that made Bianca instinctively want to wrap her arms around her and hold her tight. She’d never seen the other woman in such turmoil.

And then, after what felt like a lifetime, the needles stopped moving. Cait lay limp in the chair, head tilted back, as the restraints unclicked and released her. Bianca wasted no time rushing through the now-unlocked door, worriedly darting to the chair.

Cait was blinking blankly, her eyes foggy, her lips parted in a way that showed her confusion at their surroundings. Bianca grabbed some sterilized tissues from a box on the wall and then kneeled by the chair, carefully wiping some of the blood from her neck as it soaked the collar of her t-shirt. She was shaking, trembling, her hands clenched so hard into fists that her palms were bleeding too.

All of a sudden, the woman’s vision seemed to return to the present; she twitched, eyelids flickering, and then sat up straight as a board. Her eyes were locked on Bianca’s face.

Bianca paused, nonplussed. “Are you… alright, Cait?” she asked tentatively. “How’re you feeling?”

“Strange.” Her voice was almost detached from her, an odd tone as she continued to stare at Bianca’s face with an expression of awe. “I feel really strange.”

“But… good?”

“Everythin’ feels different,” Cait muttered. Her eyes finally left Bianca’s face, searching the room with scrutiny as she pressed one of her bloody palms to her forehead. “Everythin’ feels… _clearer_. Colours, sounds, smells – nothin’ is like I remember.”

Bianca felt her lips slowly stretching into a smile of relief for the other woman. She could imagine Cait’s senses were much more heightened without the drug dulling them. She could imagine it was like surfacing from the water and suddenly being able to see, hear, smell, feel without a veil of some substance blocking the way.

“I… I can’t believe it worked,” Cait murmured in amazement. “The cravings, the pain – hell, even the rush! They’ve disappeared… Was I really that far gone?”

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Bianca told her. “I was worried about you.”

Cait grinned all of a sudden. “Seems you’re not the only one. I have a feelin’ that Tommy had this in mind all along. Clever old bastard kicked me out of the Combat Zone so I’d clean meself up and somehow knew you’d be up fer the challenge. I guess he saw somethin’ in you that I missed.”

“I take care of my friends.”

“I know you do.” Cait grabbed her arm before she stood up. “Look, I’m never gonna forget what you did for me today. You stepped up and helped when everyone else cashed out. I… I know I suck at thank you’s, but that’s the best you’re gonna get out of me.”

Bianca just smiled. “Perfectly alright with me.”

“Whaddya say we get out of this place?” Cait stood up from the chair, pulling Bianca with her. She seemed newly energized, her still-bloodshot eyes sparkling with happiness.

“Good idea.”

 ---

FOUR DAYS LATER…

As the train rattled into Nuka World station, Cait actually found herself grinning at the sight of that one-eyed raider waiting for them on the platform. Porter Gage had his arms folded, an eyebrow raised as he watched the train pull to a stop, the doors hissing open.

“Nice to see you made it back… just in time,” he said dryly as they stepped out, greeted by the slight pull of the wind.

“How’re things going?” Bianca asked, as if he hadn’t spoken. Her voice was even more of a beautiful sound to Cait’s ears now – it was low, with an agreeable trace of huskiness, moving in measured cadences that always sounded both unrushed and intelligent. Above all, it was _unbelievably_ sexy.

The world had improved in leaps and bounds since Cait had gotten into that chair in Vault 95. Colors hadn’t changed, but they were sharper – it was as if the world had been polished anew, everything suddenly vibrant and glistening in unvandalized perfection. Her skin was no longer feeling the world through what felt like a blunt layer of plastic; she felt heat before she saw the sun, shivered before a wind had even blown in, could map out any shape with just her fingertips and know exactly what it was.

Cait still couldn’t quite believe what she’d become. Of course, she still had the routine urges in the morning to reach into her bag for some psycho – the only difference was, her body no longer craved it. The applicator was no longer an object of her desire, just a distant, dark memory.

And Cait was never going to get addicted ever again.

Gage sighed. “The Pack are still looking for blood, so I suggest you do something about that. And all of ‘em have been asking for favors.”

“Favors?” Bianca narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah – just to show them you mean business, show your loyalty. You know how it is.”

“What I know,” Bianca said, “is that I’m the Overboss – right? So they should be showing _me_ loyalty.”

Gage shook his head. “Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Bianca gave him a curt nod and then allowed, “We’ll clear out a park for the Pack tomorrow, give them one less thing to whine about. Anything else I should know?”

“Nothing.” Gage looked between them, an eyebrow raised. “Did you enjoy your, uh, ‘trip’?”

“It was great, thanks,” Cait remarked.

“Good.” Gage sighed. “Well… I’ll let you two get on. Might wanna let the gang leaders know you’re back.”

Bianca and Cait watched as he walked away, slightly limping from some old badly-healed wound. Once he was gone, Bianca muttered, “He complains even more than you do.”

Cait scowled. “I don’t complain anymore. I’ve learned to take it as it comes – new philosophy I’m tryin’ out.”

“Philosophy, huh?” Bianca smirked as they started their long walk towards Nuka Town, having to pass over the Gauntlet on the way.

“Yeah. Me new freedom has made me strangely content with the world.”

“Cheesy.”

“I know.” Cait thought for a moment. “Hey, do ya think we could stop by at the market?”

Bianca looked at her, faintly confused. “Why?”

“Now, I love guns – military sites are like Christmas for me – but I’ve never been big into lasers.” She held up the Gunner pistol so Bianca could see. “I’m thinkin’ I might get another shotgun. Or somethin’ better.”

Bianca’s smile was smooth and genuine with just the right touch of shyness; Cait felt a flush of warmth flow through her.

“I could get it for you. Celebratory gift?”

“Thanks, but no thanks. You’ve done enough for me, General. Time I spend some of these caps I’ve been earnin’.”

 ---

Cait had never been in Nuka Town’s market before – and for good reason. The place was full of shock-collared traders and settlers, and the sight made her sick to her stomach. Most of them were smeared with dirt, wearing torn, hastily-stitched clothes. Their faces bore the weathering that came with constant hard work day in, day out. Cait knew the sight well.

The moment the settlers saw Bianca, they lowered their heads like wary animals and shuffled out of her way, herded like sheep just by her presence. Cait was disgusted, but she knew it wasn’t Bianca’s fault. The raiders had done this to these people. The previous Overboss must have been a real piece of shit.

While Cait sauntered over to the weapons stall to look through the stock, she heard Bianca stop just a few feet away by a woman with a clipboard – caramel-skinned with short, ragged hair. She looked up circumspectly at Bianca, stammering, “Oh! Uh… hello, boss! Congratulations on taking out Colter! You’ve been… doing great since I last saw you.”

It didn’t sound enthusiastic at all, and Cait found herself leaving the weapons stall and walking over to join her friend as Bianca replied curiously, “Why would you congratulate me? It’s not like you’re free to go.”

“Well, to be honest, I don’t know you yet, boss,” she said feebly. “Sorry I’m so nervous – I didn’t mean any disrespect, boss. I just don’t know where I stand with you and I don’t want to risk pissing you off.”

Bianca’s face was tight. “Pissing me off?”

The lady continued, “That, and well… I’d be lying if I said we weren’t all wondering how you plan to run the place. I mean, this is your show now, you can do anything you want. You could run Nuka World just like Colter or…”

“Or?” There was a feverish expression in Bianca’s eye – an expression that Cait knew meant she had an idea.

The lady paused, gazing cautiously at Bianca.

Bianca took a deep breath and then said, “What’s your name?”

“Uh… Mackenzie, boss.”

“You don’t need to call me boss. I told you that last time.”

Cait frowned – had these two women already met? And _when_?

Mackenzie looked around, eyes still wide as if she thought this was some kind of joke. “What do I call you, then, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Bianca’s fine.”

The woman said nothing, clutching the clipboard tightly to her chest. Bianca lowered her voice, initiating that smooth charismatic purr that usually got anyone talking. “You were saying? I could run Nuka World like Colter, or…?”

The lady swallowed, lowering her voice as well. “Uh, well, you know… get rid of the raiders if you don’t exactly agree with how they’re running the place.”

Very slowly, Cait and Bianca turned to lock eyes with one another. Bianca knew how much she despised raiders, and likewise. While they weren’t exactly in a bad place as the rulers of Nuka World, neither of them were enjoying the way the theme park was being run.

“Well, I admit, I didn’t like getting roped into this ‘job’ in the first place,” Bianca said carefully.

“Then this might be your chance to make some differences around here,” the woman said confidently. “The gangs that call this place home are already at each other’s throats. Now… you could risk your own neck to try and keep them from tearing each other apart, or you could do the right thing and put them in the ground.”

And there it was. A golden ticket.

Cait was already thinking of all the ways they could ambush the raider gangs: turn them on each other, slit their throats in their sleep, blow-up their bases. She’d been waiting for an opportunity like this for ages. Her eyes landed on the red flashing light of the woman’s shock collar and then drifted upwards, landing on one of the Pack raiders keeping watch over the market from a platform above.

The woman continued, “When it’s all said and done, you’re still running this place from your fancy house on the mountain over there. Except _now_ , you won’t have to sleep with a gun under your pillow.”

“I’d have to kill all of them?” Bianca said slowly, eyes flickering as she seriously considered this.

“No, of course not,” Mackenzie replied hastily. “If you’re serious about this, then you’ll have to take down the leaders of the gangs. That means putting a bullet into Nisha, Mason, Mags and Mags’s brother, William. Once you do that, the gangs’ll collapse and Nuka Town goes back to being a free trading post.”

Cait whistled, impressed by how thought-out this woman’s plan was. How long had they been thinking of ways to free themselves before Bianca came along and offered them an opportunity to actually do something about it?

“I… uh, I should probably stop talking about this out in the open,” Mackenzie said. “Just keep what I said in mind.”

Bianca nodded her thanks and then changed the subject: “I was actually wondering… would you mind taking a look at that bullet wound from last time?”

Mackenzie nodded but her expression was a little stern. “You didn’t stimpack it? Even though I told you to?”

Bianca shrugged. “It reminds me of something I don’t want to forget.”

It clicked suddenly, and Cait realized that this must have been the doctor who had saved her life after being shot by Colter in the Gauntlet.

As Bianca sat down on the chair of her stall, beginning to unstrap her chest armor, Cait just watched blankly until the other woman shot her an amused glance. “Weren’t you buying a gun?”

Cait blinked, nodding suddenly. “Yep.”

As she strode away back to the weaponry stall, she wondered what Bianca was doing leaving her old bullet wound open and un-healed. It was a stupid thing to do while travelling through the wasteland – any open cut could easily become infected. But she’d seemed outwardly fine, so maybe it wasn’t a big deal. Still… it seemed like she was trying to punish herself for something. The death of that dog, maybe. Or perhaps something long before that.

Her son. The Institute.

Cait had been so focused on her own problems that she’d almost forgotten that Bianca had them too. Now that she was no longer headed for certain death, it was about time she paid the other woman some overdue attention.

Beforehand, though, she was going to buy a gun.


	14. Safari Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bianca and Cait take on their next challenge, clearing out Nuka World's most northerly park, joined by a very odd gorilla-man.

The idea of exterminating all the raider bosses appealed to the both of them, and yet Bianca had made it very clear to Cait once they arrived back in Fizztop Grille that they would need to plan a whole lot more before they made a decision. For now, clearing out the parks was the way to go – make the raiders happy, lure them into a false sense of security. And then, when the time was right, they would make their move and free all the slaves.

Cait couldn’t wait.

She’d gotten herself a brand new automatic combat shotgun that she was pleased with, and she was eager to use it to blow some heads off. Today, after a hearty breakfast – she’d been enjoying eating a lot lately – Cait and Bianca had set off to the furthest park from Nuka Town: Safari Adventure. A zoo for the Pack.

It took a while of walking, and they were intercepted by some very odd creatures on the way that Cait had never seen before: cave crickets and bloodworms. But she and Bianca took care of them without a second thought.

Now, they were standing right at the entrance of Safari Adventure, pausing momentarily as they listened to the sounds of struggle within. There was a snarling roar, a grunt as something pounded against flesh – they saw a shape moving up ahead, hulking and massive.

“What the _fock_ …”

“No idea,” Bianca answered before she could finish. “Let’s go kill it.”

The moment they passed the hedges and found themselves in a small courtyard, the beast twisted very suddenly towards them, letting loose a roar that rattled Cait’s teeth in their sockets. It was about ten feet tall, a little smaller than a deathclaw, and yet it had the same long claws and jaws dripping with blood and saliva. The head was elongated, nose and mouth flattened into a snout, eyes beady and set on either side of its face.

“Cito _kill_!” a male voice yelled.

The beast stumbled as a half-naked man appeared out of nowhere, swinging at it with a sledgehammer and grunting as it made contact.

Cait and Bianca opened fire.

The beast roared again as bullets riddled its tough reptilian flesh, spraying its blood like poison over the bushes. And then, finally, it slowed to a stop, growling angrily and helplessly, and slumped to the ground.

“Cito see you kill Monster!” the man exclaimed, jogging over. “You friends?”

He had dark hair in dreadlocks that reached his shoulders, a thick beard, and curved eyebrows over surprisingly innocent-looking eyes. His bare chest and arms were expansively rippled with muscle. If she hadn’t known better, Cait would almost believe they’d just met the superhero Grognak in the flesh.

“Why hello there, handsome,” Cait smirked.

Bianca shot her an annoyed look that could mean many things at once – before Cait could determine what they were, the woman had turned away from her.

“Sure…” Bianca said slowly. “We can be friends.”

“Cito happy have strong friends. Monster strong, but you stronger,” the man said.

“Exactly,” Cait agreed heartily.

“Cito happy you kill Monster. Monster hurt Cito and Cito family.”

The way he was talking was just getting weirder and weirder. Cait frowned at him, trying to understand what his problem was. “You raised by apes or somethin’?”

“Not know ‘ape’. Cito only know family,” he replied truthfully.

“What the heck are those things?” Bianca asked. “Are they some sort of deathclaw?”

Cito frowned. “Death? Claw? Cito not know. Cito only know ‘death’ bad and Monster bad.”

Bianca was obviously struggling very hard not to roll her eyes; Cait, however, didn’t hold back. This conversation was just as tedious as trying to talk to a child.

“Well it can’t hurt you anymore… Cito,” Bianca said.

Cito’s face drew into a rather terrifying frown. “No. Many more Monster. No stop. Cito kill Monster. New Monster come. Cito kill Monster again. New Monster come again.”

Both Bianca and Cait stared at him.

His expression turned pleading. “Monsters not stop. Help Cito stop Monsters?”

“Maybe. Do you have any idea where they’re coming from?”

“Cito not know,” he said, shaking his head. “New friends follow Cito. Cito show you thing – thing to help kill Monsters.”

And then he was off without even checking they were following, hefting his sledgehammer and jogging further into the park. Cait and Bianca exchanged a quick glance before making chase.

 ---

“Uh…” Cait looked at the sight in front of them incredulously. “So you were… _actually_ raised by apes?”

Cito just frowned. “This home. This family.”

They were standing in the primate house, staring down a group of four gorillas who stared right back with pupil-less eyes. The place reeked of shit and piss, not to mention something very rotten indeed. That rotten something was likely the gorillas themselves: they were radiation-infected and the ape equivalents of ghouls.

Cait almost wanted to laugh, but the situation was just too weird.

It got even weirder: the man crouched down by one of the apes and began making sniffing and grunting noises, conversing with it in whatever stupid language they apparently spoke in.

Cait thought she would piss herself.

“No worry,” Cito said, mistaking her smothered laugh for fear. “They not hurt you. You friend Cito mean you friend family.”

Even Bianca was doing her best not to smile. “How did you end up being raised by these… gorillas?”

Cito sighed morosely. “Cito very small when first family die. First family look like Cito.”

Cait snorted. “I dunno. I’m honestly seein’ a resemblance here-”

Bianca elbowed her in the side to shut her up, and she closed her mouth immediately.

‘Cito not die. Just walk and walk. Find zoo place. Find new family. New family help Cito. Give Cito food, give water. Keep Cito safe. Now Cito big and strong – Cito help family fight Monsters.”

“Uh… you have a lovely family, Cito,” Bianca said awkwardly.

This time Cait couldn’t help it – she let out a laugh, turning away from the conversation as Cito looked at her doubtfully.

“Is friend okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Oh, I’m fine.” Cait cleared her throat. “Didn’t you say you had somethin’ to show us?”

“Cito have story. Story help stop Monsters.”

“Uh… go on, then,” Bianca said uncertainly.

“Cito eat with family. Wrinkly Man come inside home. Wrinkly Man hurt. Cito try help. Wrinkly Man say he make Monsters! Cito _mad_ at Wrinkly Man – Monsters hurt family.”

Cait raised an eyebrow.

But he wasn’t finished: “Wrinkly Man sorry Monsters hurt family. He give Cito shiny thing. He say shiny thing help Cito stop Monsters. Cito try help more but Wrinkly Man die. Cito put Wrinkly Man in ground but keep shiny thing. Now give shiny thing new friends. Help Cito.”

He hooked a holotope out of his loincloth and extended it to Bianca. She took it between two fingers, no doubt wondering where he’d been keeping it – loincloths like that didn’t exactly have pockets. While he and Cait stood by and watched, she plugged the tape into her fancy wrist computer and clicked play.

“ _This is… Doctor Darren McDermot, last known survivor…_ ” A hacking cough. _“…at the Safari Adventure Replication Facility. This is… my final recording._ ”

“Shiny thing make noise?” Cito exclaimed, eyes lighting up.

“ _I’ve done something horrible… the thing I created… the thing I called the gatorclaw… they must be destroyed. They can’t be… tamed, they can’t be controlled. Their sheer ferocity is like nothing I’ve ever seen. And now, the Nuka-Gen Rep…_ ” The cough was louder this time, more brutal. _“…Replicator is out of control. It’s producing them at… at an alarming rate. Please… somebody – anybody! Find my passcode, or Doctor Hein’s… shut down the Replicator before it’s… too late! And if this recording should reach Doctor Hein… please tell him… to forgive me._ ”

It clicked off, and Bianca looked up with a frown.

“Dead man have important thing?” Cito asked hopefully.

Cait sighed. It seemed they had yet another complicated park to clear. This one… possibly even harder than the others.

 ---

Apparently, Cito had seen “Wrinkly Man” appear from the “Big Triangle House” a long time ago, so Cait and Bianca took that as a cue to check the place out. Surely it would be home to the cloning facility Doctor McDermot had been talking about.

“This Big Triangle House – it have door Cito never open,” Cito confided in them as they entered the building.

Cait just rolled her eyes, which she’d been doing very often on the way to the cloning facility. The building was indeed a big triangle shape – indoors, the ceiling was vaulted, dirty windows filtering in faint sunlight, and there were desks and old exhibits set throughout the room. Probably some creepy pre-war animal museum.

They didn’t have much time to look around before they heard a familiar guttural roar and a hulking creature with fearsome claws and teeth appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

“Shite!” Cait snapped, taken aback. She opened fire, shotgun shell casings trickling to the ground, and Bianca swung her gun around to do the same. Cito just took a running jump and tossed himself over the bannister at the creature.

They were forced to stop firing as he landed on the beast’s back and then proceeded to hammer it hard on the back of its head.

Both Bianca and Cait watched incredulously as he hammered it again and again, shoulders rippling with powerful muscle, until the creature weakened and crumpled heavily to the floor. Either dead or knocked out… neither of them were sure. But he’d sure gotten the job done.

Cito clambered off, brushing at his body lightly. “Cito strong,” he said. “Cito protect family.”

“We believe you.”

They passed the slumped gatorclaw, letting loose a few bullets into its skull to ensure it was dead, and continued past the exhibits until they rounded a corner and reached a door. With a terminal, no less.

“Alright, Cap’n – it’s all yours,” Cait said, bowing mockingly to her technologically-advanced superior.

Bianca got right to work, her slim fingers moving swiftly over the keys, eyes darting left to right as she struggled to get through the security. Finally, she gave up.

“It’s on lockdown,” she muttered grimly.

“ _Lockdown_?” Cait repeated.

“This door… do not know how to open?” Cito asked carefully.

“Only one of those scientists can get through this door.” Bianca hefted her railway rifle again. “And I think I know where to find one. Someone left a message on here about a place called the Angry Anaconda – I think Doctor Hein is there. Or… his body.”

Cito tapped his chin in thought. “Hmm. Sound like name of snake from old zoo. Oh! Maybe doctor under giant metal snake!”

Cait slapped a palm to her forehead, frustrated. “Start makin’ some sense, will ya?”

“New friends not worry. Cito know,” he said confidently. “It big… what word? ‘Ride’. Ride like big snake. Cito see from everywhere.”

Bianca nodded in sudden recognition. “Yeah, we saw that coming in.”

“Very big. Very snakey.”

Cait sighed. “Right, so where exactly is this doctor, then?”

“Up hill behind zoo – maybe doctor there?” Cito suggested.

Bianca grinned. “Good job, Cito. I knew you’d be helpful.”

The ape-man nodded enthusiastically. “Cito help! Cito like help new friends.”

Cait just found herself rolling her eyes again, storming off to lead their odd little travelling group to the next clue. Cito was an attractive man for sure, but stupid enough that she wanted to give him a slap around the head.

 ---

They found Doctor Hein’s body in an old caravan hidden beneath one of the loops of the ride. There had been many gatorclaws lurking in the area, but they’d proved to be only a small issue when Cito again showed his prowess at defeating them. Never before had Cait thought a man sans armor and nothing but a giant hammer could do a better job than bullets.

It was just after midday, a point during which Cait would typically feel weak and nauseous after the psycho had dissipated from her body. Now, however, she felt as if she could run for miles and hardly break a sweat. Her eyes weren’t burning from the drugs; her hands weren’t shaking; her legs weren’t dragging on the ground.

Day by day, her release from the addiction became more of a miracle.

When they arrived at the caravan and Bianca had inspected the lock, she shot Cait a smirk and said, “Alright, Cap’n – it’s all yours.”

Her imitation of Cait’s accent was ridiculous, but it was enough to make Cait scowl as she pushed her way to the front and began to fumble with the lock. After two broken bobby pins, she finally had it open. The room was boiling hot inside after being enclosed and in direct sunlight for weeks – maybe even months. And there was the very disgustingly familiar odor of decaying human flesh that had been thickening the air for a while.

Doctor Hein’s body was lying on the floor, most of his face having deteriorated down to the bone. Beside him was an orange tool box containing a few screwdrivers and a single slip of paper with a numbered code on it.

Bianca stepped into the trailer behind her and peered over her shoulder at the piece of paper, the warmth of her body heating Cait much more than the inside of the sweltering room could. When she spoke, her husky voice was more or less right next to Cait’s ear, and it made her shiver.

“Kudos to you.”

“Thanks, General.” Cait turned and stepped around her, needing to escape the trailer for several more reasons than one.

“We open clo-ning fa-ci-li-ty!” Cito said happily. “Doctor man have key.”

They headed back through the park together, intercepting another hulking gatorclaw that was waiting for them by the reptile house. Bianca and Cait emptied bullets into it, and it hardly stood a chance against Cito’s formidable sledgehammer to the face.

Once they’d arrived back at the door to the cloning facility, Bianca efficiently typed in the Doctor’s passcode and winked as the door unlocked with a satisfying click. Cait swallowed down all the urges that had surfaced at that wink and followed her friend and Cito into a shadowed corridor and another set of stairs leading to the basement of the building.

“Cito never been here before,” the man told them.

They arrived at a double set of doors, having finally reached a small box-shaped room, and found themselves face-to-face with two gatorclaws, beady eyes locked on them.

"Oh, fuck _me_ ," Bianca muttered in frustration.

Despite the sudden rush of adrenaline and anticipation into her body, Cait was very much inclined to take her up on that offer.

The gatorclaws roared simultaneously and charged, causing all three companions to stumble out of the way to safety. Cait opened fire as soon as she found herself pressed up against a wall with nowhere to go. The gatorclaw which had sprung at her fell back with a pained shriek, subsequently caught in the back of the skull by one of Bianca’s railway spikes. It dropped like a sack of tatos, and they turned on the last beast, pelting it with firepower until it stopped moving.

“Probably a good thing you never came in here,” Bianca muttered, wiping some blood from her face.

They passed smoothly through the room and headed down another set of stairs, entering the cloning facility and finding themselves with water up to their knees. Cait lifted a boot, grimacing at the slimy liquid that had filled it. The air around them felt sticky and hot, and there was a distant beeping sound somewhere overhead.

“I'm gonna be pissed if I get soaked,” Cait growled.

“Yeah, don’t hold your breath,” Bianca said, squelching through the water to steps that offered dry land. “Look.”

Cait followed where she was pointing and instantly saw the hunched back of another of the gatorclaws, this one apparently enjoying a nice afternoon snack. Unlike the others they’d seen, this one had charcoal-colored skin and pinkish claws.

Cait raised her gun and shouted, “Come on, you stupid bastard! Come _on_!”

The minute the gatorclaw turned towards them and made to attack, it was gunned down by both of the women, howling as it fell into the water with a gigantic splash. Cait approached it, water soaking her new jeans, and stepped over a twitching claw as she approached what it had been eating: a radroach. She curled her lip in disgust, her eye catching something much more important. “Hey, General!”

“What?” Bianca splashed over, curious, and grinned when she saw the terminal. “Gosh, is it my birthday?”

“Dork.”

Bianca’s fingers flew over the keys, and in a few seconds she was in. She straightened up with a smile of satisfaction and looked around. “Alright – I shut down the replication process. We should be…”

The beeping overhead stopped abruptly, and moments later they heard multiple earth-shattering roars echoing throughout the facility.

Cito lifted his sledgehammer, looking around grimly. “Monster coming. Cito and friends kill Monster.”

The first one flew into the room just as Bianca and Cait backed away from the computer, swiping at them with claws like daggers. Cait dodged out of the way and fired into the beast’s face, only to find that she’d run out of bullets – she needed time and space to reload.

Which she didn’t have.

Cait tossed her shotgun onto the desk and unsheathed her sword instead, simultaneously dodging and jabbing as the gatorclaw pursued her and Bianca and Cito became focused on destroying the other two gigantic beasts that had entered the room seconds after the first.

They were locked in an _extremely_ bloody battle. But after everything Cait had been through, after clearing up her psycho addiction and therefore beating her worst enemy, sword fighting with a gigantic reptile was hardly even a problem. She felt like her senses were multiplied, her movements smooth and calculated. Ducking under one of its outreaching claw swipes, she impaled the silver sword straight through the monster’s throat, wincing and letting go only when it finally made contact with those sharp talons. She was thrown to the side, landing on her shoulder in the water and rolling swiftly as the beast made to collapse on top of her.

For a while, still hearing sounds of fighting ringing in her ears, Cait just laid there in the water, staring up at the pipes on the ceiling. Red and white, snaking along corners and leading to other hidden rooms in the facility. The water surrounding her was palpitating and cool as it began to collect the blood leaking from her side – weirdly enough, she hardly felt the pain. She wasn’t sure how deep the claws had struck; only that the aching was nothing compared to what she’d felt in that addiction-curing machine in Vault 95.

A hand appeared out of nowhere above her face and Cait smiled when she recognized it. Long, slender fingers, a silver ring banded around the fourth; a memory of the husband she’d once loved who had been shot dead by the same people who kidnapped her son.

People in the Commonwealth didn’t do marriages anymore – not really. Cait’s parents hadn’t even been married. She hadn’t met a single person with a ring on their finger like Bianca had, and yet Cait found it endearingly symbolic; an unspoken promise that two people would be there for each other, forever.

Cait reached up and grabbed the other woman’s hand, allowing her to pull her to her feet. She felt slightly dizzy, and yet overwhelmed with triumph by one of her first conquests without psycho running through her veins.

Bianca had no visible injuries, but she was limping slightly and was just about as soaked as Cait was with sludgy water. Cito was standing by one of the gatorclaw bodies and nudging it with his sledgehammer, a trio of bleeding lines drawn down his back.

They’d survived. And the park was no longer in immediate danger.

“You’d make a mean swashbuckling pirate,” Bianca remarked, nodding at her sword.

Cait beamed. “If you're lucky, I'll teach you some of me moves. You think about that.”

Bianca’s face creased into a smile and she let go of her hand. “Let’s move. I can’t wait to get out of this muck.”

 ---

It took a while to clear the rest of Safari Adventure, exterminating the gatorclaws whenever they came across them. By the time all three of them were certain that the park – and Cito’s family – were safe, it was already dark.

They’d returned to the park’s entrance, standing in the courtyard beneath the moon’s eerie glow. Cicadas and crickets chirped overhead, the sounds being issued through the speakers, and Cait almost felt like she was on an actual safari.

“Monsters gone?” Cito asked curiously.

“And they shouldn’t be coming back,” Bianca told him proudly. “Your family’s safe, Cito.”

“Cito… so happy,” the man said, seeming even more lost for words than usual. “How Cito thank new friends?”

“I have some, uh, friends moving in here, but if you play it cool we can all get along. Can you do that?”

Cito frowned at Bianca thoughtfully. “Cito trust you. Cito like more new friends! Thank you.”

They left Cito standing in the entrance to the park, watching them go with a stupid smile on his face. At some point, he would return to the group of apes he called his family – and he would have to start getting along with the Pack, too. Cait doubted it would go well, but… if all worked out, the Pack wouldn’t last very long anyway. She and Bianca would exterminate them and take the park for themselves.

Well, ‘free’ the park for ‘everyone’.

Semantics.

They walked back to Nuka Town by the light of Bianca’s Pip Boy, the wrist-computer casting sickly green light over their surroundings as they walked. As usual, the wasteland out here was deathly calm with the exception of the wind and the hum of radiation. From time to time, they would hear a rustle in the undergrowth and both raise their weapons, but it more often than not turned out to be nothing.

They were passing Kiddie Kingdom when Cait suddenly felt the need to start a conversation. “So… General. I wanted to ask you somethin’ personal.”

“Personal?” Bianca’s voice was wary. “How personal?”

Cait decided to keep her tone light. “I dunno. You tell me. I was just wonderin’ about that ring you wear.”

Bianca was uncomfortable – Cait could tell, because her stride wasn’t as smooth, her footsteps stiff. “What about it?”

“That’s what _I_ was meanin’ to ask,” Cait said countered.

The other woman lifted her hand so that the ring sparkled a little in the green light of her Pip Boy and then dropped it again. Cait could tell she’d touched a raw nerve – for a long time, the woman said nothing.

They were approaching the lights of Nuka Town when she finally spoke: “Nate, my husband, was in the army. I worked as a criminal lawyer. Met him after he got involved in a tricky case with some crazy arms dealer who was selling weapons to the other side. You know, the Chinese.” She swallowed. “He was a great guy – respected me the hell of a lot. Naturally, I fell head over heels in love with him and he with me.”

“He’s the one who taught you all these killer moves?” Cait asked lightly.

Bianca let out a huff of a laugh. “Yeah. He always believed in self-defense; wanted me to be able to take care of myself. But I only really learned how to fight once I found myself in the Commonwealth. Before that… I mean, I was a mom. We lived in a suburban home: white picket fences, high-end furniture, neighbors and friends that we liked. I didn’t need to go around shooting people to survive. I really think I was happy with Nate. Before the bombs fell, this _ring_ meant everything. It meant I would be able to spend the rest of my life with him like I wanted.”

Cait was silent. Perhaps her own lifetime experiences had made her cynical of the so-called “love” that showed up in comics, pre-war magazines and old poster advertisements. But, before now, she’d never quite believed anyone who’d declared they were in love – only Bianca could say the words with such honesty and emotion that Cait trusted them without question.

What did it even feel like to love someone like that? Surely it was like an addiction. A pretty crappy one, too, because a person could be an annoying little fucker, but psycho – _psycho_ didn’t talk back.

They were getting closer to Nuka Town, the orange lights glowing like a cluster of beacons through the night’s radiation. Cait’s mind was full of this idea of “love”. If you were in love with someone – addicted to someone – there wasn’t a machine that could take that addiction away. But your addiction could get ripped away in the blink of an eye. That person you loved could be torn from the world and you’d be left with emptiness inside – a craving that could never be cured. A wound that would never heal.

It almost made her nauseous to think about it. Had Bianca really gone through that? She’d been infatuated enough with someone to want to spend forever with them – and then forever was taken from her. And so was her own flesh and blood: her son.

How must that have broken her?

Bianca had spoken honest words about empathy during their night in the Galactic Zone. Cait had never felt that she had any empathy at all. She didn’t feel what other people felt – she didn’t really care. But maybe that was because she’d been surrounded by assholes her whole life. It was only now that she knew someone like Bianca, had begun to care for her, that she realized that the other woman’s pain hurt her as well. Cait had thought her life was shitty, but now she could see that she wasn’t the only one.

Life had tossed them both in the shredder and they’d come out in bits and pieces – maybe even bits and pieces of each other. Bianca was right: they _did_ share many of the same values.

Because they were the same.

Cait did wish she had the other woman’s ability to adapt, however. To be both ruthless and fair whenever it suited her. To be able to lose something and still keep on moving, keep on living. To be able to help someone else selflessly even though she had her own problems to deal with. Because Bianca had helped her when she really didn’t have to. She’d saved her life when it really counted, and Cait couldn’t quite wrap her head around what this meant to her.

It meant… more than words. Nothing she could say could possibly make the other woman understand her importance. Cait had spent her whole life submitting to people who abused their power, betrayed her, forced themselves on her, and now she’d found someone – out of the blue – who did none of those things. Who respected her and cared about her.

And Cait trusted her. Finally, for the first time in her life, she _trusted_ someone, and that deep trust disregarded everything else. Not even the joy of fighting, of drinking, of flirting and sarcasm, could draw Cait’s interests away from the woman walking next to her.

It was unbelievably stupid. Insane. But it was true.

And it was a beautiful thing.


	15. Not That Kinda Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Um... smut. Just smut.

Bianca grimaced as she set her bag down on one of the tables, laying her rifle down next to it. She’d gotten a pretty bad leg scratch during their fight with the gatorclaws and the stimpack she’d taken still hadn’t fully healed it.

The bullet wound on her side had gotten a little infected, too. Normally it would have just healed after she’d injected so many stimpacks into her body trying to cure other wounds, but… she’d left it too long. Now that it was infected, she was stuck with the mundane, tedious way of healing injuries: waiting.

Bianca normally slept in her armor – in fact, she’d taken it off only when she needed to wash her BOS uniform, bathe, or check her bullet wound over the past month. Wearing it daily was something she’d been doing for a while; it wouldn’t do her any good if she was attacked during the night and was wearing no protection. She was good at fighting, but she wasn’t so good at dodging bullets. Now, however, it needed to be done: she unbuckled the straps, yanking the chest piece over her head, and set it on top of her bag. The feeling of no longer being restrained was freeing – her ribs were no longer aching so much, her bullet wound no longer throbbing. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Did you realize you’re bleedin’?” came Cait’s dryly humorous voice from across the apartment.

The woman had been silent since Bianca had opened up to her about Nate and the wedding ring she wore. Bianca had decided it was something to do with the woman’s lack of imagination. Unless you had been in love before, how could you possibly understand the symbolic importance of a ring?

“I’m aware.”

Bianca removed her arm and leg guards too, deciding she might as well run the whole mile. Besides, the Pack had been given a park now – all the gangs were on even ground. Being assassinated tonight was much less likely.

“You need some help?” Cait called.

“I’m good.” Bianca reached an arm over her shoulder to tug the BOS uniform’s zip down, but was forced to stop as her healing bullet wound began throbbing agonizingly hard. She grunted, dropping her hand back at her side. “Actually, a little help would be good.”

Cait crossed the apartment in a flash, almost like she’d been waiting for this moment. Bianca swallowed as she felt the woman’s hands on her shoulder blades and then the gentle tugging of the zip as it was very slowly pulled down. She could almost feel Cait smirking behind her.

“Could you do that any slower?” Bianca muttered sarcastically.

“Yeah.”

Completely unexpectedly, Cait stopped altogether, one hand still on the zip, the other on her shoulder blade. The points where she was touching Bianca’s skin were beginning to burn with feverish anticipation. She felt the Irish woman’s breath on the back of her neck, warm and familiar, felt the soft slide of her fingers as she pulled the zip the rest of the way down, the movement impossibly seductive.

Bianca knew exactly what Cait wanted. Sly, devious, _mischievous_ – she bet there was a huge grin on the woman’s face right now.

The hand on her shoulder blade shifted downwards, barely feathering over her flesh as it landed on her waist, the thumb tucking into one edge of the zip. And then her other thumb hooked in too, spreading open Bianca’s suit, baring her back in a way that made cool air and Cait’s body heat rush onto her skin simultaneously.

Ever a traitor, her body shivered.

“Cold?” Cait’s accent lilted with her typical mischievousness, her voice close to Bianca’s ear. Her hands shifted again, the thumbs now tracing tender arcs over her skin, touching just enough to make her hair stand on end.

Bianca felt heat stirring between her legs – an arousal that she couldn’t control. Not with Cait touching her like that, whispering in her ear.

“Not really,” she said, hardly able to keep her voice even. Perhaps it was time to stop playing games, circling around each other. Both women had been attracted to each other for a long time; why not do something about it?

But she still felt it was a bad idea.

“Hot, then?” Cait pressed herself up against her, lithe body seeming to fit deliciously into the curve of Bianca’s spine. The feel of her body heat through her clothes was driving Bianca crazy. Whatever had brought this on now – whatever it was that had turned Cait on – Bianca knew she couldn’t wait. For all the reasons that she felt she shouldn’t sleep with this woman, she couldn’t deny that she wanted her _now_.

She turned very suddenly, causing Cait’s arms to drop from where they’d been tracing her back. When she came to face her, the woman’s eyes were a deep green, the pupils dilated. There was a smirk on her face as usual, but it was frayed at the edges with lust, her lips parted.

“Very hot,” Bianca whispered.

And then it was as if all hell broke loose.

Cait seized her and captured her lips roughly, kissing her with such frenzied desire that Bianca stumbled back into the table, the slight shock of pain sending pleasure rippling through her. The slender, powerful body in her arms was pushing hard into hers, Cait’s hands drawing her in with an iron grip.

She didn’t exactly need any more persuasion.

Bianca succumbed to Cait’s violent, passionate kiss – to the way the other woman explored her with tongue and teeth, gasping hotly into her mouth. She surrendered to the feel of the woman’s hands tearing at her bodysuit, literally ripping it off her body until she was forced to help, Cait shoving her back against the table as she quickly shimmied them off her legs.

And, all the while, heat was pooling between her thighs. The need for release was getting harder and harder to ignore, especially as Cait pinned her to the table with her mouth, tugging on her lip with her teeth, pressing in between her legs. Bianca groaned as one of Cait’s hands found her breast beneath the cotton bra, began touching her with quick, nimble fingers that knew exactly what they were doing: a squeeze of the breast, a brush of the thumb over the nipple, a stroke of the supple flesh as the woman bit her neck hard and made Bianca gasp in satisfaction.

Cait thrust her further back against the table, breaking away momentarily, eyes wild and face flushed with arousal as she bent to kiss Bianca’s collarbone, teasing her sensitive skin lightly with her teeth. She pressed the woman down as she ran her tongue over her nipple, teasingly kissing the hypersensitive bud in a way that made Bianca begin to throb where she most needed release. Wherever Cait kissed, her hands followed, nails trailing over Bianca’s trembling skin and setting fires in their wake.

She kissed down the softness of her abdomen, nipping and sucking as she followed the line of definition towards her bellybutton. Bianca shut her eyes tight as Cait sucked particularly hard just above the band of her underwear, hands roughly shoving her down as her hips bucked automatically.

Bianca couldn’t believe this was happening. But she didn’t want it to stop.

Swiftly, Cait straightened up again, grabbing Bianca’s hips and yanking her hard so that Cait was pressed firmly between her legs, recapturing her mouth.

Cait was a paradox: soft lips that kissed so aggressively they left a lasting sting; delicate-looking hands that held her carefully but handled her roughly; a small, limber body that seemed as hard as steel as it pushed against her. Bianca had never kissed someone who was capable of such incredible passion – she’d never before felt this exhilarated before her clothes were even fully off.

“What do ya want?” Cait breathed into her ear, pulling away momentarily as she dug her fingers into Bianca’s hair, wrapped her hands so tight that it was delightfully impossible for her to pull away. They were pressed up hard against each other, Bianca’s rear on the table and her bare legs wrapped securely around Cait’s hips.

Bianca’s mind was whirling, her whole body thrumming with desire, her lips feeling swollen – she was almost sure she tasted blood in her mouth. But Cait was still right there, breathing into her, moving into her, eyelashes brushing against her cheeks. The longer Bianca looked at her, the more feeling she felt swelling in her chest at the sight of such a familiar, beautiful face.

“What do you think?” Bianca growled breathlessly.

She felt Cait smiling into her skin as she pressed a heavy kiss to her shoulder, as the woman’s hands abruptly softened and let go of her hair. One of the hands retreated down to her stomach, tracing over the skin with the palm flat, fingers dragging over the flesh. Cait’s fingertips lightly dipped beneath the elastic of her underwear, teasing the sensitive area between her pelvic bones, not moving further just yet.

Cait’s face was in her neck, lips drawing pleasured gasps from Bianca as she sucked on the pulse where her blood beat steadily beneath her skin. All Bianca could feel was Cait’s warmth – _so warm_ – and all she could smell was the familiar blood, sweat and grime that she was somehow so attracted to. She breathed Cait like she breathed oxygen: it was just necessary.

Cait’s fingertips were still teasing her just above her pubic bone, barely brushing over the skin, and Bianca was becoming more and more insatiated with need.

“Jesus,” she gasped finally. “Will you just fuck me already?”

Cait’s chuckle was warm and seductive as she nipped at her chin, ducked her head to kiss the space between her breasts. Bianca grew impossibly more aroused, shutting her eyes tightly again as the woman’s free hand abruptly squeezed her breast, sending a shock through her.

“Not so polite, General,” Cait murmured wickedly, fingers still dipping no further than her pelvis.

“You’re telling _me_ about polite?”

Another squeeze to her breast, Cait’s lips leaving a red, stinging kiss on her jaw. Bianca throbbed, breaths coming in short pants.

“Fine,” Bianca hissed through gritted teeth. “ _Please._ ”

Cait paused a long moment, drawing back to look her deep in the eyes, and then Bianca felt her hand abruptly connect with the slick heat between her thighs. She let out a shuddering breath of pleasure as Cait’s fingers began to circle and slide with dexterity, as she continued to make eye contact, a faint – and almost smug – smile on her lips. Bianca could already feel the pleasure building, rising in her gut, curling in her toes and sending tingles up and down her spine.

Cait didn’t stop. Her fingers were the most beautiful thing Bianca had felt in a long time – so much so that she couldn’t stop herself from moaning, leaning forward and pressing her forehead into the hollow of other woman’s neck. She’d never been vocal during sex, always found it tacky somehow, but right now she was just primal with need.

The pleasure was rising, rising, rising… Cait’s fingers somehow only moved faster, harder, centering in on that little bundle of nerves so desperate for release. Her free hand smoothed over Bianca’s nipples, stroking them relentlessly. She was breathing heavily too, her whole body moving with her hand.

Bianca suddenly found herself teetering just on the edge, whole body tensing and filling with a phenomenal energy – the calm before the beautiful storm. She was going to come whether she wanted to or not; was going to explode with stars and fire and the most intense sensation she’d felt in over two hundred years.

But Cait’s fingers slowed, just keeping her there on the edge, circling her until she was literally just bucking her hips into the woman’s hand, still striving for that beautiful release. Another moan escaped her lips, muffled by the silky skin of Cait’s neck.

“You wanna come?” Cait’s voice almost sounded as if it was coming from a distance, even though it was right in her ear. It was uneven, husky, her Irish accent like a nostalgic melody.

Bianca was blinded by the urge to explode with pleasure, still moving her hips as Cait circled relentlessly.

She could hardly reply, eyes shut tightly and face still pressed hard into Cait’s neck between chin and collarbone. But she managed a muffled, “ _Yes_.”

And then the woman rubbed her quickly, rough and with a passion that astounded her – Bianca toppled over the edge.

Everything was just colors and stars, her body flooding with unbelievable ecstasy as her muscles twitched and spasmed and she let out a primordial moan into Cait’s neck. Cait didn’t stop moving her hand until Bianca stopped moving her hips, clutching tightly to the woman as the magnificent orgasm drained from her body and she slumped into her tiredly.

A surprisingly soft kiss was pressed into her temple, Cait removing her hand from her underwear as she brought a finger to Bianca’s chin and lifted her head to look at her. She was grinning, so unbelievably pleased with herself, and for once Bianca just let her have it.

Cait kissed her again, this time much softer on the lips, her mouth hot and gentle. Bianca buried her fingers in the woman’s red locks, still a little damp from their fight in the flooded cloning facility. Those intense green eyes were just staring into hers, waiting for her to say something, tearing through Bianca’s carefully constructed layers with ease.

Everything felt serene and calm – the way it was supposed to be. There was no regret, no awkwardness, no worry.

“Any feedback?” Cait asked innocently.

Bianca’s fingers fiddled with the material of her t-shirt, feeling the woman’s body heat through the white fabric. She leaned in to tenderly kiss her cheek, then her jaw, finally rounding on her lips. The woman’s smile dropped as Bianca slipped her tongue in her mouth, idly teased her, and then pulled back just as quickly.

“I think you’ve ruined my reserve, Cait.”

“You didn’t need it, anyway,” Cait muttered, following her as she drew back and trying to recapture her lips again.

Bianca kept herself at a distance, eyelids fluttering as she pressed a palm to Cait’s cheek and held her there. Tracing a thumb over the line of her cheekbone, over the endearing freckles and the smooth, fair skin that was flushed with excitement.

“It was amazing.”

Cait’s sly smile was back at full force, literally stretching from ear to ear. “I could tell from all the moanin’, General.”

“I think it’s my turn,” Bianca said huskily. She tilted her nose against Cait’s, just barely bringing their lips together before she pulled away again. The other woman was getting frustrated; she could tell.

One of Bianca’s hands slipped underneath the hem of Cait’s t-shirt, tracing over the soft, defined flesh there, feeling the muscles tense beneath her fingers. She wanted to make the woman feel at least as good as she had, if not even more.

“Maybe we should find the bed.”

Cait was reluctant, still attempting to kiss her, but Bianca rested both hands on the waistband of her jeans, tugging upwards slightly. Cait’s face was flushed with sudden arousal.

“Okay, okay,” she said quickly.

She pulled away from Bianca so suddenly that a sudden chill reached her skin – she shuddered, slipping off the table and abruptly feeling very naked in just her underwear and a misplaced bra. But the way Cait was looking at her made it all feel worth it. Like she wanted to fuck Bianca again and again until both of them were too exhausted to move.

There was still time for that.

Bianca unhooked her bra, leaving it on the table, and then took Cait’s waiting hand to lead her to the double bed. The woman was literally bouncing in anticipation, eyes lit with an almost childish excitement. Bianca paused once they were beside the bed, hands sliding down to Cait’s waist and pulling her close – close enough that she no longer felt cold. Close enough that the other woman’s breathing sped up and her eyes automatically fell to Bianca’s lips.

With provocatively slow hands, Bianca fumbled with the hem of Cait’s t-shirt and then slowly lifted it over her head, knowing that this was new for the other woman – Cait was used to sex being fast and rough. Bianca was going to show her what slow and teasing felt like.

The other woman’s breath hitched as Bianca pressed herself harder into her, fingers finding the button of her jeans. Cait’s lips were touching her cheek, breath warming her ear, hands hanging reluctantly by her sides as she waited for Bianca to do what she wanted.

Bianca undid the button with a flick, smiling as she slowly slid the jeans down Cait’s slender hips. Some of the scars she saw on the woman’s body made her feel deeply upset – scars that she knew must be from unconventional weapons. Broken bottles, perhaps, or cigarettes. But Cait was still just as beautiful with or without them; they told her story so that she didn’t have to. They made her who she was.

In the dim light of the apartment, Cait’s skin almost looked silver, so pale that it shone in the dark. Bianca traced her fingers down the other woman’s stomach, outlining the hip bones before continuing on to the thighs, breathing deeply as she teased her thumbs under her underwear.

Cait was very quickly losing control. It was too slow for her, but that was perhaps what made it so erotic.

“Jesus,” she muttered, voice almost guttural in Bianca’s ear. “What’re you doin’ to me?”

Bianca touched her fingers to Cait’s inner thighs, very slightly drawing her legs apart, feeling warmth radiating from her core. The other woman shivered, pushing herself rigidly into Bianca’s body.

Bianca pulled back.

She smiled at Cait’s frustrated glare, nodding over to the bed. “Lay down.”

Cait’s eyes glinted mischievously as she did what she was told for once, climbing onto the bed and rolling onto her back, legs slightly spread. Bianca stood over her, kneeling at the foot and wrapping her hands around the woman’s ankles. She tugged gently.

“Come here.”

Again, Cait did what she was told, shuffling towards Bianca until her legs were practically over Bianca’s shoulders and Bianca had a rather clear view of her crotch. She turned her head, softly kissing the inside of Cait’s thigh, trailing her tongue beneath the knee and chuckling when the woman squirmed.

She continued with the sweet torture, trailing her tongue over the insides of Cait’s legs until the woman could barely watch her anymore, jerking towards Bianca whenever she hit a sensitive spot.

And then she stopped, fingers hooking into Cait’s cotton underwear and very gently pulling it down past her knees, standing up to toss it elsewhere in the apartment. When she kneeled between Cait’s legs again, the woman was staring at her, breath coming in light pants. She was so turned on that it was actually _funny_.

Bianca grinned. “You alright?”

Cait just shook her head wordlessly, the arousal lucid on her face.

And then Bianca lowered her face between the woman’s legs and Cait let out a sharp grunt of pleasure – almost as if she was surprised. As planned, Bianca started off slow, feeling how wet the other woman was on her tongue, the warmth of her burning almost like a furnace.

Soon enough she had Cait completely out of control, jerking and groaning at the slightest pressure of her lips, the slightest flick of her tongue, the slightest amount of suction. The woman was sweating, abdominal muscles clenching hard as she struggled with the pleasure flooding her body. It was enough to make Bianca feel desperate with need again – just the sight of Cait so under her control, so wildly aroused by something that she was doing.

Bianca stroked Cait’s stomach and legs tenderly as she continued with her skilled work, using the woman’s sounds to guide her towards the edge that she was waiting for. She wanted it to be a slow build-up, a feeling of pure ecstasy. She wanted to make love to the woman the way she deserved.

Soon enough, Cait was just about grinding her hips onto her face, panting and gasping at the sensations. Bianca tightened one hand on her hips, pressing her down into the bed as she increased the movement of her tongue, and then pressed her other two fingers into Cait’s warmth – suddenly enough that the woman moaned at the penetration.

And then, in a split second, she was coming. Cait let out a very sudden exhale, whole body spasming, legs clamping hard around Bianca’s ears as she continued with her assault. A throaty moan escaped Cait’s lips, hands suddenly digging into Bianca’s hair, pressing her harder between her legs.

Bianca held on even as the woman’s bodily strength seemed to overcome her, taking her breath away, muscles contracting until she was aching. But then, after many more long seconds, Cait suddenly relaxed.

She let out a sigh, hands loosening in Bianca’s hair, and the woman finally allowed herself to draw away from between her legs. Cait was breathing fast, body still twitching slightly, but her eyes were on Bianca – on the mess that she probably was. Eyeing her with the most sweet, content look that Bianca had ever seen on her face.

Bianca wiped her face with the bed sheets and then crawled up the mattress to lie beside her, Cait’s body curling into hers as she finally settled herself. Her heart was beating a hundred miles a minute, her whole body stimulated by the closeness of this woman beside her and the bond they suddenly seemed to share.

Cait buried her face in Bianca’s chest, flinging one arm around her and pulling her into an honest-to-god cuddle.

Cait _cuddled_?

Bianca relaxed into it, twisting her legs with Cait’s until she wasn’t sure what belonged to who. Both of them were calming down a little, breath evening out, sharing in each other’s warmth. In the distance they could hear yet another raider fight breaking out, glass smashing and bullets rattling against metal and brick. None of it seemed real, somehow.

Finally, Cait muttered, “Yer not goin’ anywhere, are you?”

Bianca frowned at the question. “Where would I go?”

“I mean…” Cait pulled back to look her in the eye, then thought better of it and kissed her instead. It was long, sweet, a gentle movement of their lips together as Bianca cradled her head.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Bianca told her when they parted. “This is where I want to be.”

Cait chewed on her lip. “Seriously?”

“Cait… I’m not that kinda girl.” Bianca managed a faint, exhausted smile. “I don’t know what you want, but for me… this wasn’t just sex.”

“It wasn’t?” Cait apparently wasn’t done asking stupid questions.

“No.”

Cait gently pressed their foreheads together, fingertips curling in the soft hair behind Bianca’s ear as her eyes closed. It was an extremely sensual touch – something Bianca would never have expected from the other woman.

But Cait had begun doing a lot of things Bianca hadn’t expected lately.

That familiar, tugging feeling rose in her gut as she wondered at Cait’s thoughts. Surely she must have realized by now that Bianca would never have done so much for her if she wasn’t special. Bianca would never have wanted her to stay, never have chosen her over Dogmeat, never have risked her life to get her a cure… if she didn’t love Cait.

Because she did.

It was a different kind of love to what she’d felt for Nate – more primal, somehow. A feeling that she’d been certain of since Vault 95. A sensation that made her constantly want Cait’s company, want to be bantering back and forth with her, want to be making physical contact. The woman was irritating, feisty, quick to anger, but she had also begun showing a considerable amount of heart. And Bianca loved it. Loved _her._

It didn’t feel like a betrayal to Nate’s memory at all, because it was _different_. And she knew that it wasn’t something that could be denied. Not anymore.

“What was it then?” came Cait’s quiet whisper.

Bianca sighed, hearing the faint throbbing of the other woman’s heartbeat, relishing in the feel of their naked skin pressed together. Thinking about the day ahead.

“Something,” Bianca said. “It meant something.”

Right before Cait drifted off, before her breath evened out and the tension left her body, Bianca heard a mutter that sent her heart flying.

“ _Good_.”


	16. Till Death Do Us Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait and Bianca awkwardly experience the morning after, and Cait struggles with her feelings. They set off to clear another park, this time with the addition of heightened sexual tension between them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slightly longer wait for this chapter. I'm back at school, so updates will take a little longer. Which... by the way, is perfectly fine - only a couple more chapters to go! Thanks for reading and gracing this story with kudos and comments, and I hope you enjoy it until the very end!

Cait woke up naked. And warm. And… pleasantly comfortable, lying with Bianca pressed up behind her, one arm flung over her waist.

Her heart instantly skipped in her chest and she had to struggle not to move too suddenly and wake the other woman up. Cait wanted to lay there at least a little while longer in Bianca’s arms, skin electrified by her contact. Warm breath hitting the back of her neck, one leg twisted with her own, a familiar Bianca-type scent smothering her. In fact, Bianca’s smell was surprisingly intoxicating now that it was all around her. Usually people just smelled like sweat, blood, grease and dirt – typical Commonwealth odors, considering soap and clean water were hard to come by. Bianca smelled like someone who had definitely spent most of her life being clean; for some reason, Cait could smell lemon. Sharp, citrusy, a blissful scent that she’d discovered at nineteen when her slaver had hung an old air freshener in his room and she’d spent a whole day just breathing it in and trying to remember how good it smelled.

That was Bianca.

Cait shifted only slightly, closing her eyes again as she pressed herself further back into the woman behind her. Beautiful, beautiful Bianca, who made Cait feel simultaneously weak, confused and scared all at once. Who had done something to her last night that no one had ever done. Made love to her.

Considering it had been months since Cait last had sex, the experience had been about ten times as intense as she’d ever experienced, especially since she was so attracted to the woman she was travelling with. She was still slightly confused as to how Bianca had allowed it to happen. Obviously, the woman cared about her – that was for sure – but Cait was messed up enough that she’d expected her friend to stay well away from her.

“Awake?” came a husky voice by her ear. It was _so_ much sexier when she was sleepy.

Cait hadn’t realized Bianca was awake. Now, she rolled over onto her back, tilting her head so she could see those pretty hazel eyes in the morning sunlight. Bianca’s eyes were closed. But Cait drunk in the sight of her nonetheless, eyes following the curve of her neck, flitting over her breasts, travelling down the defined muscles of her stomach –

“Are you seriously checking me out?”

Cait, caught off guard, looked up to see Bianca’s eyes finally open, green-brown and framed by inky lashes. No one looked great in the morning, but Cait was pretty sure Bianca was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

She smirked. “Somethin’ wrong with that?”

Bianca’s arm touched her waist again, fingers pulling her slightly closer. “No.”

Cait didn’t feel anxious about the softness of Bianca’s kiss this time. The woman kissed her and the world just fell away; she felt nothing but that cool, gentle contact. Bianca’s hand rested below her ear, thumb stroking her cheek as their breaths mingled. Cait was overcome by this very sudden feeling of wanting to cry.

Which was… odd, to say the least.

Cait hadn’t cried for years, and for good reason. Tears never helped her when she was in trouble – actions did. And she wasn’t in trouble now, was she? She was lying next to the one person in the world who had ever made her feel like she was completely safe.

So why in _hell_ would she need to cry?

Bianca pulled back and Cait fought to maintain her expression, trying to swallow down the lump in her throat and blink away the wetness in her eyes. But her friend could see what was going on; there was a sudden flash of concern in the hazel eyes, a slight pursing of the lips. Cait struggled with her tears until she couldn’t struggle anymore, and then she felt the warm wetness trickling down her cheeks. It wasn’t accompanied by any particular feeling; she didn’t feel stuffy and overcome by sadness at all. She wasn’t sobbing, or even sniffling – she was silent.

Bianca reached forwards and gently wiped at Cait’s cheeks with her thumbs, still quiet. Cait could almost hear her heart beating in her ears, her throat filled with an aching pain, her chest shaking as the feeling got even more powerful.

Cait had no idea what the tears meant. She had no idea what the _feeling_ meant, either.

Finally, Bianca said, “It’s OK, you know.”

“ _What?_ ” The word had come out as more of an angry demand than anything else.

“Everybody cries.”

“I’m not cryin’,” Cait muttered.

Bianca’s smile was tired and worried, and her thumb didn’t stop caressing Cait’s cheek. “You are. And it’s fine.”

The breaths became more uneven and the tears only seemed to become thicker, blurring Cait’s vision and weighing down on her chest until it was hard to breathe.

“Talk to me,” Bianca said softly.

“About what? I don’t have anythin’ to say.”

“I think you do.” Bianca brought their faces close together and kissed her again, and eventually Cait could taste the salt of her own tears on Bianca’s lips. She couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening.

“I’m not sad,” Cait said against Bianca’s mouth, squeezing her eyes tightly so the tears would stop flowing.

Bianca feathered their lips together, sighing. “No?”

“No. I’m pretty damn… happy.”

“The tears say otherwise.” Bianca pressed her mouth harder into Cait’s, fingers pressing delicately into her jaw. Just the right amount of touch, as if the woman knew exactly what Cait’s body wanted.

But Cait didn’t. She and her body were not on the same page, it seemed. All of a sudden, she wanted the comfort of rough and fast and hard – she wanted pain and fire. Anything that could distract her from the stupid, mundane quality of feelings bringing her down.

Cait detached herself from Bianca suddenly, sitting up and staring down at the other woman. She wiped at her face with her forearm, angrily warning herself to stop before the humiliation got even worse.

“I’m thinkin’ we have a lot to do today,” she said quickly.

“Not if-”

“A park to clear, maybe,” Cait interrupted. She shuffled off the bed, knowing Bianca was watching her as she walked to collect her clothes, naked and pale in the morning light.

Maybe the woman was looking sadly at the scars – the cigar burns on the backs of her legs, or the long marks from flogging. Maybe even the deeper, more jagged scars from when her slaver had tried to carve his name into her back with a broken cola bottle. He’d failed, and Cait was bleeding and in pain for weeks.

Cait was a map of scars and bruises, of pain she had sustained and survived. Every mark was a reminder of something that had been done to her – something that needed to be avoided at all costs. She was broken, disgusting, _used_. Cait had always thought she was like a radroach; people despised her, tried to kill her at every opportunity, but still she survived. Not because she wanted to, but because it was her instinct as a living being. She lived because she felt like she had to, because sometimes the suffering was all that kept her going.

Bianca wouldn’t understand.

As Cait pulled on her clothes, she heard Bianca getting out of bed, too. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that gorgeous tanned body – saw the woman returning to where she’d left her own clothes the night before. The last thing Cait wanted was for Bianca to think it had been nothing more than a one night stand, because God knew it had been more than that. But she did want her friend to understand that she couldn’t deal with any of the extra attachments right now.

It seemed Bianca got that, for now.

They both got dressed in silence, Bianca taking a little longer as she buckled up the straps of her armor – the bandage on her side, covering the bullet wound that somehow hadn’t healed, was making life a lot harder for her. And Cait wasn’t about to offer a flirty hand again.

Cait had finished her mutfruit breakfast by the time the other woman was ready, and they left the apartment carrying on a formal conversation, discussing which park they would be clearing. They were straining to act like everything was normal, even though it wasn’t. Even though they’d slept together last night and Cait had cried this morning.

The effort was almost painful.

They eventually decided on Dry Rock Gulch, if only because Cait still wanted the bottling plant to belong to them and _only_ them. The western-themed park was right between the Galactic Zone and Safari Adventure, about a thirty-minute walk from Nuka Town. When they arrived, it was to find that the entrance of the park was home to about a dozen bloodworms.

Bianca had reverted to business as usual by now, speaking to Cait more like the General than an oddly-formal friend. They blasted the bloodworms to hell and then entered the park, Bianca approaching the protrectron waiting for them who was seemingly unfazed by the infestation.  

To Cait’s surprise, the robot began speaking in a sluggish, strong-accented voice: “ _Hope y’all have a good day here at Nuka World. Ready to saddle up and ride into the old wild west?_ ”

“This whole area is infested with bloodworms and who knows what else. It’s not safe,” Bianca said flatly.

“ _You must mean the no good outlaws that are coming out of Mad Mulligan’s mine,”_ the robot replied calmly. “ _Well, partner, if you’re interested in lending a hand, I could use a new deputy. What do you say?”_

“Yer not makin’ any sense,” Cait muttered irritably. “What is this?”

“ _Processing… Confused or concerned visitor. No need to worry! I am just a friendly Nuka cola protrectron, programmed for theme park amusement! Our friendly cowboy personalities will guide you and your loved ones through several fun, Wild West activities_.”

Cait couldn’t help but wince slightly at “loved ones” and felt Bianca do the same beside her. If anything, the tension between herself and Bianca was even more awkward than after their first kiss.

Bianca cleared her throat. “All right. Tell me what I need to do.”

“ _The door to Mad Mulligan’s mine is locked up. I got a spare key in a safe by the theatre, but wouldn’t you know, I plum forgot what the combination to the safe was!”_

“Safe?” Cait snorted. “Oh, we won’t need a combination, darlin’.”

“ _Processing…_ ”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Bianca said quickly to Cait.

“ _Processing… Confused or concerned visitor. No need to worry! I am just-”_

“That’s fine, we get it!” Cait snapped, stepping around the protrectron and rolling her eyes. She and Bianca continued further into the park as the protrectron continued to comfort them from the entrance, its cowboy voice fading into the distance.

“Stupid robots,” Cait scowled.

“Hey – the guy’s just doing his job.”

They found the mine quite quickly after passing a collapsed rollercoaster ride and exterminating some more troublesome insects that were lying in wait. Cait figured she’d be able to unlock the mine without them completing some stupid quest made for kids. It was the least she could do.

They climbed over the barriers and approached the ruby-red door guarding the park’s main indoor ride. As Cait crouched beside the lock with a bobby pin and a screwdriver in hand, Bianca stood back and kept watch. It took a few tries, but Cait eventually managed to trigger the mechanism and unlock the door, grinning in satisfaction.

“You can thank me anytime now,” she said smoothly.

Bianca just smiled and shook her head. “Thanks for being good at breaking into things.”

“No problem, General.”

It didn’t take them long to figure that the mine was the source of the bloodworm infestation – the entrance room was full of them. Luckily, the worms were pretty easy to kill with a blade, so Cait and Bianca holstered their guns and continued into the cart ride with swords in hand.

As they entered the dirt-walled mine, the lights dull and yellow, Cait couldn’t help but sneak glances at her friend out of the corner of her eye, wondering about what she was thinking. The mission at hand should have been enough to take last night off Cait’s mind, but somehow it wasn’t. It was rather hard to forget the feeling of Bianca’s soft lips between her thighs, the sound of the woman’s moans as Cait did her best to make her feel good. It was also very hard to forget what the woman had said about it before they fell asleep in each other’s arms: that it had _meant_ something.

Cait wanted to slap herself for thinking about Bianca so much. Her mind was running wild like she was some stupid little girl in love. But she couldn’t help it.

They passed a few open rooms set up like attractions, finally finding themselves in the main chamber of the “mine”. This was the start of Mad Mulligan’s cart ride, and also the nest of all the bloodworms they’d had to kill on their way.

As Cait and Bianca approached the collapsed hole in the floor, the bloated corpse of a Brahmin beside them exploded in a shower of blood and decaying organs, followed by several bloodworm larvae. As they got completely plastered in the slimy mess, Bianca and Cait swiped at the insects blindly, cutting them into pieces.

Cait wiped some blood out of her eyes, spitting the disgusting stuff out of her mouth. “If I get some fockin’ disease, we both know where it came from.”

Bianca was wiping her face too, surveying the area. “There’s a few more of those corpses – over there. And some in the hole.”

“Got our work cut out fer us,” Cait muttered.

They set about shooting the corpses and slicing the bloodworms apart, finding the largest worm hiding inside the collapsed floor – likely their queen. It now lay in the hole in several mismatched pieces, bleeding steadily into the broken floorboards.

“ _Disgustin_ ’ filth is in my eyes,” Cait growled in frustration, wiping at her face with the collar of her t-shirt.

“Here.” Suddenly, Bianca was in front of her, steadying her with one hand while she helped wipe at her face with the other. Cait went completely still, eyes closed, until the woman’s hand stilled.

Then she just opened her eyes and looked at her.

Bianca sighed as if she’d suddenly realized that what she was doing was wrong. “Sorry.”

She made to pull away, but Cait grasped her hand and held her close. They were staring each other down, barely inches apart, both covered in old Brahmin blood. Before she could stop herself, Cait leaned forward to press a chaste kiss to the other woman’s lips before pulling away.

Bianca was looking at her oddly, confused, but Cait ignored her expression, casually stepping around her and gesturing to the exit of the mine. “Should we keep goin’?”

She wasn’t helping their situation, and she knew it. After last night, all she’d been was hot and cold. But Cait functioned on urges – she did whatever felt right at the time. And kissing Bianca had felt right. So she did it.

“Yeah.”

They passed through a corridor heading off from the mine, heading back around in a full circle to the mine’s entrance. They ended up in a small gift shop, determining that there wasn’t much left to ransack after a quick search.

They returned back outside, breathing in the non-musty air and blinking in the bright sunlight as it blasted them from above. As they recovered, Bianca stood very close to her, hand just barely touching her own. Cait was beginning to feel like she needed to have sex again, if only to feel like they weren’t teasing each other anymore.

Now she’d slept with Bianca once, she wouldn’t be able to stop until she’d done it again. And again. Honestly, their relationship was becoming a vicious cycle. The dynamic between them had changed so much that both of them were finding it hard to come to terms with it.

Cait and Bianca spent the rest of the morning exterminating unwelcome creatures in the park, sweating as the sun grew hotter and hotter. Cait had no idea which gang would be taking this park; she only knew that they weren’t much better than the infestation of parasitic bloodworms. Once they were certain they were finished, they left the park without any hesitation – it had been one of the easiest parks by far, and there wasn’t much more to explore.

They walked back to Nuka Town side by side, relishing in the serenity of the Commonwealth. The wind was strong in Nuka World, but it wasn’t so loud – it didn’t bounce off buildings and shake windows, because there were none. They were out in the open, and Cait was glad for it.

Nuka Town was bustling with raider life once they arrived, members of each gang carrying out their daily activities. Most of them seemed rather impressed now with how Bianca was running the place, if only because they’d all been gifted a park and she’d left no one out. Even the Pack weren’t complaining anymore. Cait and Bianca passed them as they called out sarcastic greetings and insulting statements, comfortable in knowing that at least they wouldn’t be stabbed in the back today. Not until they decided who was going to have Dry Rock Gulch.

They took the lift up to their apartment, watching as Nuka Town and its inhabitants grew into little ants and ant houses.

Cait felt Bianca’s hand on her hip before the woman made to kiss her, tilting her body automatically as their lips connected. They were drawn together like magnets, minds and feelings muddled as they grasped at each other. Even the fact they were both covered in decaying blood and Brahmin guts wasn’t enough to turn them off.

The lift came to a stop, beeping loudly, but both women were too focused on kissing each other hungrily to notice. Cait grabbed at Bianca’s arms, squeezing her fingers into the hard muscle, biting at her bottom lip. Bianca reacted with a soft gasp, hands grabbing at Cait’s ass through her jeans.

This was something they needed, it seemed. Even though Cait had offered no explanation on her part, even though they’d acted more or less like they were friends the whole day, there was still the mutual desire to have sex until things weren’t awkward or embarrassing anymore.

Bianca pushed her off the elevator and into the apartment, bearing down on her with much more strength than yesterday. Cait let her, too overwhelmed by the woman’s smell and the feel of her smooth, warm skin to feel like fighting back too hard.

They stumbled their way to the bed, Bianca’s lips now exploring Cait’s neck, fingers struggling with the button of her jeans. Cait’s body was filling with the familiar adrenaline that came with arousal, and she fell back onto the bed quickly, yanking Bianca on top of her as she wrapped her legs around the woman’s hips. Her fingers buried in those soft bronze locks of hair as Bianca continued to kiss her neck and her chest, pulling down the collar of her t-shirt. The lean body on top of her was moving in a way that was making her groin tingle with need – in reaction, Cait groped at Bianca’s breasts, satisfied when she heard the woman gasp and jerk a little in pleasant surprise.

It was only when Bianca began stripping Cait’s jeans off that she suddenly felt a twinge of worry. She so desperately wanted to fuck this woman – more than anything, in fact – but she was also scared that what happened this morning would keep on happening. She’d keep on crying, keep on brushing it off, keep on spending the day acting like they hardly knew each other.

And it would never end.

“Wait.” Cait forcefully drew herself back, pushing Bianca with both hands so that their lips disconnected. The woman’s eyes opened suddenly, gazing down at Cait with an expression of surprise and concern.

“Is everything…?”

“I just – I think we need to… maybe-” Cait sighed. “Shite, I suck at this.”

Bianca finally seemed to catch on, lifting herself up on her elbows so that she wasn’t smothering Cait with her weight. “You want to… talk?”

Cait hesitated, then nodded slowly.

Bianca’s smile astounded her – it was like sun peeking through radioactive clouds after days of rainy darkness. She climbed off Cait entirely, straightening her partly-unbuckled chest armor and crossing her legs. Cait sat up slowly, tucking her hair behind her ears, and slid her jeans the rest of the way off so she wasn’t just lying tangled in them. The ghostly presence of Bianca’s lips on hers was still making her shiver with excitement, and she forced herself to calm down.

“I’ve been thinkin’,” Cait began slowly. “Just… try to bear with me. This isn’t easy fer me to say, and I just want to get it right.”

Bianca nodded curtly, eyes bright.

Cait sighed. “Where do I begin? Did you know I spent three years fightin’ in the Combat Zone? Three years of getting’ beaten to hell by a bunch of losers and lunatics. After the matches were over, I’d spit out the blood, stitch me wounds and do a couple a shots of psycho to keep me goin’. I fuckin’ hated it.”

Bianca swallowed, eyes trained fixedly on her face.

“I hated the crowds, I hated the other fighters, and I hated meself. I never understood why I put myself through all that… until now. It was because I was alone.” Cait scratched her head, sighing again. “I think, deep down, I wanted to die. I wanted one of me opponents to crush the life out of me. The easy way out.”

Because she was a radroach. She was programmed to survive, programmed to protect herself – what better way to bypass her instincts than to constantly put herself in the way of danger?

Bianca’s fingers feathered over Cait’s knee, resting there lightly enough that they were a reassurance rather than a weight. The woman’s eyes were firm; serious.

“Well, that’s the past. You’re not alone anymore.”

The sudden return of all her emotions made Cait curse herself internally. The last thing she needed right now was to cry – she had to get this over with.

“Then maybe you know what I’m tryin’ to say to you,” Cait said softly. “My life’s been nothin’ but one huge failure after another. You’ve heard all me stories and you know the prices I’ve paid. There were… a few times, when things got really bad, that I…” She hesitated.

Bianca just continued to watch her, fingers stroking her knee.

“Well, I found meself starin’ down the barrel of me own shotgun.” Cait swallowed, seeing the slight flicker of horror on the other woman’s face. “I don’t know why I didn’t pull the trigger. I guess I was prayin’ that I could find a single scrap of humanity in this fucked up world.”

“I… get that feeling,” Bianca said seriously.

Cait nodded, allowing herself a small smile. “What you did fer me back there at Vault 95… it was like an answer to those prayers. That’s the first time in me life I fully depended on someone else and they didn’t let me down.” She paused. “Not that I ever thought you’d – oh, for God’s sake. I’m makin’ a mess of this, aren’t I?”

“Not really,” Bianca grinned. “Let it all out.”

“I’ll be fine. I just need to be gettin’ to the point.” She cleared her throat, knowing the hardest part wasn’t yet over. “The longer we’ve been spendin’ time together, the more I’m beginnin’ to realize what you mean to me.”

Bianca’s smile was even wider, and Cait wondered if it was because she was making a fool of herself. She forged on anyway, forcing herself to keep her mind on track. “I’m not just talkin’ about you watchin’ me back or sharin’ a drink together. I mean more than that. Before we met, I’d never let me guard down around anyone – I didn’t dare. But with you, I feel like I can let you in and see me fer everythin’ that I am. For better or for worse.”

Bianca nodded slowly, that hand gripping Cait’s bare knee even tighter. “You can.”

Cait felt shaky as she blinked hard at the emotions rising just from the sound of those two words. “I don’t know if I want things to be like they were before last night – before we met, even. What I need you to do…I just…”

“What?” Bianca prompted when she trailed off.

Cait rubbed at her nose, preparing herself for humiliation. “Please, just… look me in the eyes. Tell me you feel somethin’ too.”

She finally looked up, and Bianca was staring at her. The expression on her face was priceless – wide eyes, lips parted in explicit surprise. She looked like she’d just been swiped in the gut by a deathclaw. Silence stretched on for a while – too long, in Cait’s opinion. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, her whole body tensing in preparation for the pain she felt was certainly going to come.

And then Bianca said, as casually as if they were discussing dinner plans, “Of course I do. I’m in love with you Cait.”

Now it was Cait’s turn to feel like she’d just been sucker-punched in the gut. All the breath had left her simultaneously, and she was trapped just on the edge of something unbelievable – some incredible discovery that she’d never even seen coming. Love? Had she said _love_?

“You… you’re what?” Cait spluttered, eyes wide. “You said... you’re in _love_ with me? I – I didn’t know. I mean, I felt somethin’ between us but I thought it was somethin’ _else_ …”

Bianca just smiled at her loss for words, looking at Cait like she’d just said the stupidest thing in the world.

“Why?” Cait demanded incredulously. “Why would you fall in love with someone as screwed up as I am?”

Bianca frowned. “Because you’re special to me. And I don’t think I’d be happier with anyone else.”

Cait was starting to feel like the woman was messing with her. But it _had_ to be true. It just had to. Because these feelings Cait had been having couldn’t possibly mean anything else. Love was the only goddamn answer, somehow. And she couldn’t fucking believe it.

“You… you really mean that?” she asked carefully. “This has to be the first time I’ve put all me cards on the table and didn’t end up losin’ everythin’…”

Bianca’s smile was soft and loving and beautiful in all the ways that made Cait feel emotions flowing up inside her again. The sex – that didn’t quite matter anymore. Because, for the first time in her life, there was so much more than that.

She surged into Bianca without any other reason than to feel the woman kiss her and wrap her arms around her. She just wanted to feel that clear, soft skin against her own, wanted to be so close to the other woman that she couldn’t possibly pull away.

Cait kissed her like she had never kissed anyone before, and from the way Bianca reacted, she could tell it wasn’t lost on her. She was on top of the other woman, knees on either side of her hips, hands tucked under her jaw as she carefully connected their lips again, and again, and again – until she began to feel dizzy from emotion and need.

Until she heard and felt Bianca chuckling, hands pressing on the small of her back. She imagined she was acting like an excited puppy right now. She didn’t care.

Cait spoke without any barrier, without any attempt to hide how she felt, pulling back from Bianca’s lips to say, “You don’t know how much this means to me, to have someone special in my life. I-I promise you – I mean to make the most of it.”

“You don’t have to promise me anything,” Bianca said quietly. She stroked at Cait’s face and leaned up to kiss her again, warm and tender. At first, it was a gentle butterfly of a kiss, and then Bianca’s arms encircled her, drawing her in so close that she was delightfully trapped against the woman’s body. It was magic, the way their lips connected. Bianca’s mouth was so warm, the caress of her lips softer than anything, and Cait was becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the fact that this was hers. All _hers_.

They kissed until both of them were panting, clutching each other, eyes heavily-lidded and bright from passion. Until every thought had been obliterated and every defense had been shut down.

Cait had won over this beautiful, powerful, perfect woman – she had no idea how – and Bianca would belong to nobody else. Not as long as Cait could help it. She could touch her whenever she wanted, fuck her whenever she wanted. Sleep beside her, embrace her and not feel like she was being too forward. The world was suddenly complete. And all in the space of a few minutes.

Cait was in _love_.

Which was funny, really, because she’d promised herself after Vault 95 that she’d never get addicted to anything ever again. But this was one addiction she was sure she’d never want to cure. This was one that she would do her best to keep forever.

For better or for worse. For richer or for poorer.

Until death due them part.


	17. The Best Feeling in the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little nighttime fluff and a quick dive back into Cait's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter doesn't do much in the way of carrying on the story, but I just wanted to prove that I haven't disappeared off the face of this planet or decided I'm no longer inspired. I AM NOT FINISHED UNTIL THIS STORY IS FINISHED. And that's a promise.
> 
> So here's just a short chapter of fluff to satisfy you guys while I get my shit together and start writing the next part. Thanks for reading!

“Caity-darlin’!”

The voice was playful and deep, sending shivers up and down her spine. Cait knew she wouldn’t get away; knew she was fucking _dead_. But the longer she could prolong the inevitable, the better.

“Come out, ya little cunt!” daddy called loudly. The sounds of Cait’s mother chuckling behind him filled Cait with indescribable anger and despair. How could this be her life? How could neither of them give a single shit about her?

She was crouching among the rows of mutfruit, right next to the fence – her fingers were white-knuckled and clutching the chicken wire desperately, her body twisted into the thick mutfruit leaves to make sure she stayed hidden. But it wouldn’t last for long: she could see daddy’s torch sweeping across the end of her row, could hear his heavy footsteps in the loose dirt.

Mother was standing by the door of their house – Cait could see her silhouette from here, arms folded and head nodding as she laughed. Every few seconds she would call out to daddy and give him some encouragement, and he would laugh too and kick some dirt into the bushes. Trying to blind Cait. Trying to make her come out and give in.

She’d spent even longer this time planning for an escape – she’d been so much more careful with stealing bottlecaps, packing her things, praying to some higher power that she’d make it out for real this time.

But she hadn’t even made it out of the farm.

Daddy had realized she wasn’t in bed before she could jump the fence, and now he was out here with a torch and his shotgun, wheedling to her.

“I know yer here, Caity,” daddy growled – his torchlight was getting closer, and Cait was beginning to shiver with dread. The first time she’d tried to run away, they’d locked her in a sweltering shed for days. This time… she had no idea what they would do to her. Something worse, for sure.

And there was no one to help her. No one to grab her hand and run with her out into the wasteland. No one to take her away from here. As usual, Cait was all alone.

And she’d have to take whatever punishment she got.

“I CAN FUCKIN’ SEE YA!”

Suddenly, Cait could see nothing but bright white light in her eyes – her daddy’s torch, stabbing through the mutfruit branches and landing on her upturned face. Despite herself, she let out a short sob, feeling it tear its way out of her chest as daddy suddenly lunged towards her.

The torch clattered to the floor, light spasming in all directions, and daddy grabbed hold of Cait’s leg and pulled – _hard_. She let out a sharp yell, kicking at him desperately, but he was two times the size of her and she stood no chance. Daddy knelt over her, eyes bloodshot in the torchlight, face smelling of cigarette smoke and unwashed teeth, mouth set in a wide and extremely angry grin.

“Fuckin’ little cunt,” he growled. “Fuckin’ think I didn’t expect ya to try it again?”

She whimpered, and he slapped her across the face, leaving the inside of her mouth and cheekbone stinging. The taste of copper filled her mouth, lapping around her tongue.

“Eh?” he sneered.

He slapped her again, this time across the other cheek, and Cait lifted her arms in a feeble attempt to protect herself. In the distance, her mother was shouting rude, horrible things about her. Cait could barely hear her through the ringing of her ears.

Daddy took hold of her leg as she kicked at him, bracing it with two hands. He was so strong – his fingers were made of iron. And she could see the veins and sinew in his forearms. He was a giant and she was an ant. And he was going to crush her.

She let out an earsplitting scream, kicking at him with all her might, but daddy just leaned against her chest and kept her leg pressed out flat against the ground. He was chuckling. “Stop movin’, stupid bitch,” he said. “Or I’ll do the other one too.”

And then, with his hip pressed into her torso so she couldn’t move or breathe, he drew back his shotgun and crashed it hard down into her shin.

Cait blacked out.

She was awake barely seconds after, crying and shrieking against her own volition, writhing against daddy as he drew his shotgun back for another blow.

Her leg already felt like it was broken in half. The pain was so agonizing that she couldn’t feel her foot, couldn’t feel anything other than the fractured bone and broken skin.

“You won’t be runnin’ away again,” daddy huffed.

The shotgun crashed down, and Cait felt her vision blurring and spinning, felt the world losing control around her as the pain overwhelmed all of her senses – more pain than she’d ever felt in her life. And her daddy was doing this to her.

Mother was watching from afar.

“Daddy!” she wailed. “ _Stop_ – please! STOP!”

 ---

“STOP!”

Cait bolted upright, sweating and panting, cool evening air hitting her skin. Everything was pitch black for a split second and she panicked, thinking she was back in the shed, thinking that her leg was aching with blinding agony, thinking that it hadn’t been a dream.

And then there was the comforting hand on her back, dry and warm against her skin. And she felt a soft body press up against her side, familiar soft breath brushing her ear. Cait shut her eyes tightly, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, feeling Bianca’s groggy hands just stroking over her spine and her shoulder, blindly trying to calm her.

“Cait?” Bianca’s voice sounded hoarse and deep, but not scarily so – she sounded nothing like either of Cait’s parents. She just sounded… safe.

“I’m fine,” Cait said quickly. “Sorry.”

Bianca stopped stroking her, instead leaning back and reaching for the nightstand by the bed. As the lamp switched on, Cait had to squint, pressing her hands to her forehead. She let out a deep sigh.

“Cait, seriously, what’s wrong?” Bianca was more awake now – her voice was full of concern. Her hands wrapped around Cait, enveloping her in warmth and that beautiful lemony scent. Cait just wanted to sleep again, dream of nothing, think of nothing.

“Nothin’s wrong,” Cait muttered. “Just a dream.”

Bianca gingerly touched Cait’s cheek, turning her face towards her. “A nightmare.”

Cait hesitated, then nodded. What was the point of being in love with this woman when she couldn’t even trust her with a stupid nightmare?

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Bianca asked softly. Her hazel eyes were tired and heavy-lidded and she had a crease mark on her cheek from her pillow, but all Cait wanted to do was kiss her. She turned away.

“It was just me parents,” Cait shrugged. “Bein’ assholes.”

Bianca smiled. She leaned in, delivering a soft kiss to Cait’s cheek and snaking her arms tighter around her waist. “They’re not here anymore, Cait.”

“I know,” Cait scoffed.

“What was the nightmare really about?”

Cait rolled her eyes. “You aren’t getting’ off me arse about this, huh?”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“It was the second time I ran away from home. Me parents caught me and broke my leg so I couldn’t run away again.” Cait shook her head. “Fockin’ psychos.”

“Sounds like they were,” Bianca said sadly. “You know I’m here, right?”

“Uh… _duh_.”

Now it was Bianca’s turn to roll her eyes. “Fine. Mushy stuff sucks, I get it. I just mean that nightmares aren’t too bad when you can talk about them with someone.”

“I guess…” Cait sighed. “I guess I feel less panicked now.”

“Uh-huh.” Bianca smiled and kissed her cheek again, letting her lips linger long enough that Cait actually felt herself blushing like a little child.

“I love you,” Bianca murmured into her ear.

Cait felt herself blushing even more and quickly rubbed at her face as if to hide it. “Yeah, I sorta love you too, General.”

“So sincere,” Bianca chuckled sarcastically.

“You know I am, though.” Cait turned to look into her eyes, smiling at the colors she saw. “You’re a fockin’ godsend, you are.”

“Now who’s getting sappy?” Bianca grinned.

“Sappy and proud.” Cait pressed her lips chastely to the other woman’s before pulling away. “Can we sleep now? I’m done talkin’ about meself.”

“Bullshit. You’re never done talking about yourself.”

“I am when it involves me feelings,” Cait countered. She flopped back down on the bed, smirking to herself as Bianca switched off the light and followed suit, keeping an arm tucked snugly around her waist, her soft naked body pressing into Cait’s from behind. It was enough to make Cait think dirty thoughts, even though she was exhausted and it was the middle of the night. She shifted back into the other woman purposefully, decisively slipping one of her legs backwards between Bianca’s thighs.

“I-I know what you’re doing,” Bianca said sternly, her voice muffled.

Cait let out a chuckle and let her body relax. “Fine. Tomorrow mornin’ then?”

“Maybe.” Bianca kissed the back of her neck. “We’ll see.”

“That didn’t sound like a yes.”

“Fine. Yes – is that better?”

“ _Maybe_.”

Bianca hugged Cait tighter and muttered, “Smart-ass.”

“Me arse is plenty of things.”

To Cait’s surprise, the hand that had been wrapped around her waist very suddenly released her and grabbed her butt instead. She jerked in surprise and then tilted her head towards Bianca’s, hearing the other woman laugh.

“Yeah, it’s pretty sexy,” Bianca said slyly.

Cait rolled over fast enough that she was basically on top of Bianca’s hand, wrapping one leg around the other woman’s hips and bringing their faces close together. Bianca was smiling fondly – she could tell.

“You tired?” Cait asked innocently.

“Yeah. _Very_ tired.”

Cait’s leg slid up onto Bianca’s waist as she pulled the other woman closer, grinning. “Could I make you… _more_ tired?”

“You’re always ready to go, aren’t you?” Bianca remarked.

Cait cocked an eyebrow at Bianca’s sarcasm. “You’re the one who grabbed me arse a few seconds ago. Right? Or was that just me imagination?”

“Your imagination, I think. I’m just trying to sleep,” Bianca sighed.

Cait shifted her head forwards and kissed the other woman, almost immediately invading her mouth with her tongue, feeling Bianca’s shift in breathing pattern. It was messy, careless, but Cait knew for sure that it was turning the other woman on. When she pulled away, she pressed her fingertips under Bianca’s jaw and said, “Yer a tease. I kind of like it.”

“Really?” Bianca’s hand landed on Cait’s thigh, tracing it so lightly that goosebumps rose on her skin. Cait swallowed, leaning forwards to reclaim Bianca’s lips again as the hand reached her ass once more and squeezed. And then those slender fingers dipped to Cait’s inner thigh, inching towards her warmth. Cait kissed Bianca with abandon, digging her hands into the other woman’s hair and letting loose a short groan as Bianca stopped very suddenly, her fingertips resting just short of her heat. Bianca liked to do this – liked to take as much time as possible, be as sensual as possible. Be as _teasing_ as possible. Until literally nothing else was left in Cait’s mind but her.

Right now, all she could think about was that slender hand between her thighs and Bianca’s lips steady against her own. All thoughts of that nightmare had dissipated into the night.

Bianca pulled back from the kiss very gently, the shape of her lips forming a smile, and said, “We should sleep.”

Cait swallowed so loudly that she was sure the other woman could hear it. “You fockin’ kiddin’ me?” she said, frustrated. “You got me all worked up-”

“I thought you liked that I was a tease,” Bianca countered, withdrawing her hand and placing it on Cait’s hip.

Grumbling, Cait released the other woman and rolled so that she was curled up on the edge of the bed, steadying her pillow under her head and ignoring Bianca’s attempts to try and cuddle with her. She didn’t think she’d ever get to sleep if she was this turned on. After a while, Bianca gave up and just settled in, her breathing beginning to even out as she fell asleep shockingly fast. Cait would give anything to be able to fall asleep that easily. Instead, she was cursed with taking hours to pass out and sometimes not waking up until midday. She was a deep sleeper, which was a dangerous thing in the Commonwealth.

Cait hesitated only for a moment before she rolled over again and reluctantly tucked herself against Bianca’s body, burrowing herself into her warmth with her face pressed into the hollow of the woman’s neck. Cait wasn’t a cuddler. At least… she hadn’t been before Bianca. But now she could hardly sleep without some part of her body remaining in contact with the woman she adored. She breathed in Bianca's familiar smell, moved her lips against warm skin, stroked her fingers over the woman's hair. 

 _I love you_.

She hoped the words never lost their meaning - it was why she was too scared to say them out loud after the first time. Although she trusted Bianca more than she'd ever trusted anyone or anything in her life, she also felt that their relationship was too new and brittle to rely on. Cait hadn't known anything that felt this good to last so long. What if one of them died one day? What would happen then? _I love you_ needed to be saved for when Cait felt it the most. She didn't ever want to say those three words without forcing full meaning and emotion behind them.

Cait could hear nothing but wind and faint voices in the distance as she closed her eyes and allowed her body to relax entirely, sighing against Bianca’s skin. Despite her worries, she was happy. _Really_ happy. It was the best feeling in the world.


	18. A Change of Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The parks have been cleared, Cait and Bianca are still honeymooning, and Porter Gage has a new mission at hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come, guys! Sorry this is so short, but I'm working with less of the game's dialogue now and therefore will have to use my own imagination. *Sigh*. More action in the chapters to come, but I cant promise there will be loads of Cait-Bianca fluff like there was in this chapter.  
> Enjoy!

“I’m thinkin’ I might hate the mirelurks more than anythin’ else in this fockin’ place,” Cait grumbled, hands on her knees as she breathed in fresh air.

They’d only just managed to escape the World of Refreshment park alive and were now on the roof of the bottling factory, catching their breath back. Bianca was sitting with her legs swinging over the edge, gazing out over Nuka World and marveling at how oddly beautiful it was. The golden sun hit the flat landscape just right, casting everything in a warm glow and turning each park around them into a silhouette. She could only just see Fizztop Mountain from here – a jutting shape rising out of yellowed mist.

“I wasn’t so fond of the gatorclaws,” Bianca said idly.

“Yeah, fine. But they _died_ when we put a few bullets in ‘em,” Cait retorted. “These fockin’ crabs just keep on goin’!”

“Cait, they’re dead. Calm down.”

“Calm down?” Cait snorted. “I’ll calm down when I don’t have giant fockin’ insects and lizards tryin’ to murder me.”

“So… never?”

“Never.” Cait walked over and threw herself down on the edge of the roof beside Bianca, scowling as she lifted a hand to her face to brace against the sunlight. “By the way, what’s next?”

“Next?” Bianca questioned.

“Yeah. As in, what the hell happens now we’ve cleared all these parks?”

“Guess I’ll have to ask Gage. But that can wait.”

“Till what?” Cait glanced at Bianca, frowning when she saw the smile on her face. “General, what’re you cookin’ up in that pretty head of yours?”

“You’ll see.”

 ---

Bianca shook her head, nonplussed, as she saw the ingredients that Cait was attempting to mix in a bowl. They’d returned to Fizztop Grille to cook a celebration meal after their success with all the parks, but had gotten a little caught up.

With each other.

Now it was already dark, a little later than Bianca had anticipated, but she supposed she could talk to Gage the next morning. The celebration was much more important to her.

Unfortunately, she had only just agreed to let the Irish woman help her and it now seemed that dinner was about to be ruined after all – _eggs and mutfruit_? What the hell was she even doing?

“Cait…”

“Yeah?” Cait looked up from the bowl, the crease between her eyebrows the only sign that she knew she was in trouble. “Somethin’ up?”

“Didn’t I say you were doing dessert?”

Cait sighed. “You sure did. Go ahead, tell me: I’m messin’ it up, aren’t I?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well… I bet you a thousand bottlecaps that you’ll like it.”

Bianca grinned at the other woman. “And where’ll you get those thousand bottlecaps?”

“I’ll never need to pay them,” Cait replied confidently. “I know exactly what you like, General.” She turned back to her bowl and continued mixing. Bianca rolled her eyes.

“Cait, eggs don’t go with fruit. I promise you.”

Cait’s face was set with determination. “Sometimes you don’t think things belong together, but they do.” She set the bowl down on the counter, fixing Bianca with a self-assured smile. “Like me and you.”

“You and me?” Bianca repeated amusedly.

Cait took a step towards her and slung both arms around her waist, pulling her away from the stove and the two cooking Salisbury steaks. Bianca dropped the spoon instantly to hold the woman in turn, eyes falling automatically to her lips. Cait was smiling as she arched up to kiss her chastely, pulling back to look her in the eyes.

“Besides,” she said seductively. “I don’t think we need dessert.”

“No?” Bianca felt a slight shiver down her spine as Cait’s fingers pressed into the small of her back.

“I’d rather eat you instead.”

Bianca’s lips parted in surprise, and then she pushed Cait away gently, a blush rising to her cheeks. “You’re incorrigible.”

Cait could only grin, smug as usual. She won every game of seduction they played and remained incredibly distracting. Now that Bianca had the opportunity to take the woman aside at any point during the day and have her way with her, she was starting to become much less productive. Or… more productive, depending on how she looked at it.

“What would _I_ eat, then?” Bianca asked.

“Up to you,” Cait returned with a suggestive smile. “What sounds better? Me, or a bowl of mutfruit and eggs?”

Bianca reached behind her blindly and switched off the stove, swallowing in anticipation as she stepped towards Cait and pulled her close once again. “Why do you always have to do this?” She leaned down and kissed her neck as the woman smirked, pressing her back into the counter as she simultaneously began unbuttoning her jeans.

Cait’s breath hitched, but she still sounded smug as she replied, “We could always just make it a celebratory breakfast.”

Bianca shoved Cait’s jeans down and kissed her collarbone, muttering, “Maybe lunch.”

 ---

Bianca offered the man a brief and business-like smile as she approached him in front of the lift that headed up to Fizztop Grille. He was leaning against the building’s entrance, arms folded and expression grim.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Porter Gage said, standing to attention. “You actually did it… Nuka World is ours. All of it.”

“I was just doing what I do best,” Bianca replied easily.

“Hey, if I didn’t think you had it in you, I wouldn’t have put my neck on the line. But, still… you’ve just gotta understand that we ain’t ever been on ground this solid before. Now that we’re here, let’s keep this party going.”

Bianca frowned. “What do you mean?”

Porter Gage scratched his head and said, “I’m thinking it’s time we set our sights on the Commonwealth.”

Instantly, Bianca’s mind flew to all the settlements she’d created with the Minutemen – all the people she’d saved. She saw Preston Garvey and Ronnie Shaw; Piper and Nick Valentine; even innocent little Curie. She hadn’t been in the Commonwealth for a long time, but she still had plenty of friends there. She wouldn’t give up anything she’d made for some stupid raider settlement, and she wouldn’t put any settlers in danger. Maybe Bianca had changed since losing Shaun – maybe she’d become more merciless, more mercenary than hero. But something about feeling whole again, about being in love, made her realize that she did still have morals.

Nuka World was _gigantic_ – why did raiders always have to strive for more than they needed? Why did they always have to bite off more than they could chew?

Bianca felt sick as she said, “Why bother with the Commonwealth? Don’t we have everything we need over here?”

“That sounds like Colter talking, boss,” Gage growled. “Ain’t a good sign. Taking back Nuka World is a big freaking deal, no question. But it can’t be the end of things. Needs to be a beginning.”

“What kind of beginning?” she asked carefully.

“These bunch of savages need a goal, something to focus on. If they ain’t got it, they’ll wind up turning on each other. And an operation this big, we’re gonna need more of… well, everything. Nobody’s gonna hand it to us; we need to take it.”

Bianca couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Well… actually, she could. What had she expected to come of all this, anyway?

She knew that even Cait would agree with her on this one: under no circumstances could they ever let these raider gangs take over the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth was their home, whether they liked it or not. For all the bottlecaps and supplies that being the raider Overboss offered her, Bianca knew she’d rather die than help them go a step further.

“The Commonwealth has a ton of shitty little settlements that could be put to better use, don’t you think?” Gage questioned, a glitter in his eye.

_Shitty settlements?_

Barely disguising her anger, Bianca muttered, “Sounds like you’ve had this planned from the beginning.”

“The idea’s crossed my mind, sure. But I’m just making suggestions here. You’re the one that needs to give the go-ahead.”

At the sight of Bianca’s frozen expression, the man seemed to back down. He cleared his throat and said, “We don’t gotta rush into this headlong. We take it slow, be smart about it. If we’re aiming to grab a piece of the Commonwealth, it’s going to take the right contacts and a lotta muscle, right?”

Bianca said nothing.

“I say we go have ourselves a chat with Shank when you’re ready. He’s the point man for everything entering and leaving Nuka World. He floated this idea before… been itching to talk to you ever since you took over, so I bet he’s got a good idea of where to start.”

“Shank?”

“He’s in charge of the caravans, so odds are you can find him somewhere near the marketplace.”

The marketplace?

Bianca’s mind made the connections in the fraction of a second, and instantly she knew what she had to do. Yes, she’d visit the marketplace. But not for Shank. There was a certain doctor there who she needed to speak with – a woman who had given her a tip on how to end this once and for all.

“Just head over and talk to the guy,” Gage suggested. “He’ll back up what I’m saying about the Commonwealth. And while you’re doing that, I’ve got the gangs working on getting Nuka World’s power plant up and running. It’s about time we shed some real light around here and let people know we mean serious business.”

“Uh-huh. You do that.” Bianca was already walking away, stepping onto the lift. She glanced back at Porter Gage as she pressed the button, and he watched with a frown as she was lifted up and away on the wooden platform.

The parks were cleared. Nuka World was more or less safe.

Bianca was willing to make it very dangerous again.

 ---

Cait glared at her hands, clenching and unclenching them in her lap. She was sitting on one of the couches with Bianca across from her. Both were completely silent.

It was time, finally. Cait had been waiting for Bianca’s go-ahead all along. But now… now, she was a little worried that attempting to assassinate the raiders was going to end badly for them. Their connection made them vulnerable – what if Cait lost Bianca? As much as she loved fighting, she really didn’t want to risk it. Two of them against a whole town of raiders? Didn’t seem like a battle they were likely to win.

“You sure we can’t just let them take the Commonwealth?” Cait asked.

Bianca’s eyes flashed. “Cait! You don’t mean that.”

“We’re fockin’ dead either way, so maybe I do,” Cait retorted. “Think about it, General – how the hell’re we ever goin' to kill every single one of those raiders without at least one of us getting’ killed?”

“We kill them all, we win everything,” Bianca said. “We get the whole of Nuka World, _and_ we save the Commonwealth. I’m willing to risk everything for that outcome.”

Cait shook her head, smiling despite herself. “You’re really into this whole savin’ the Commonwealth thing, eh? Maybe we can start a little save-the-world role play in bed.”

“Cait, now is _not_ the time-”

“Are ya willin’ to risk me?” Cait asked seriously. “Because all I’m sayin’ is that I don’t think I want to risk you for a world I didn’t even like much before it had you in it.”

Bianca’s expression softened and she got up from her couch to join Cait on hers, cuddling in and taking both her hands. “Of course I don’t want to risk you,” she said gently. “I love you. But this is something we were both waiting for, right? And after everything we’ve been through… I think we’re strong enough to succeed.”

“Ya think?”

“Yeah. Also, I don’t think I could do this without you, so I need you on my side.” Bianca smiled and leaned in to kiss Cait on the cheek. “So are you in?”

Cait paused, and then smirked. “You know how much I like to be in… you."

Bianca hit her lightly on the shoulder. “Stop it.”

“Yeah, I’m in,” Cait said through a laugh.

“Good.” Bianca kissed her lips this time, indescribably happy. She pulled back, hazel eyes searching Cait’s face. “Now… what were you saying about being in me?”


	19. One More Tomorrow (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two women against three raider gangs - an impossibility. And yet, their scheme is already bringing them closer to victory. Bianca and Cait begin carrying out their plan to take out all the raiders in Nuka World with the help of imprisoned doctor Mackenzie.

Mackenzie, the doctor in the Nuka Town marketplace, hadn’t had much for them in the way of a master plan. But she’d had several ideas which had been brewing now for several days. Gage probably thought Bianca was coming to terms with the idea of taking over the Commonwealth – in truth, she and Cait were building a strategy to destroy each and every Raider gang in Nuka World. This would have been considerably easier had they not just provided said gangs with fortified parks to live in. But it wasn’t impossible.

As Gage had mentioned several times, the gangs were already close to turning on each other and creating uproar. Now they all had parks and were looting them for what they were worth, the tension had risen so much in Nuka World that Bianca reckoned you could cut it with a knife. The Pack and the Operators had two parks each. The Disciples only had one. Therefore, they were the one vulnerability that Cait and Bianca needed. It was only a matter of time until strife broke out – what Bianca needed to ensure was that the Disciples didn’t get out of it alive.

“If we just kill ‘em, it could be any of the gangs,” Cait was complaining. “I’m tellin’ you, we have to leave somethin’ behind – maybe a bloody head or somethin’ gory. Just so they have proof it was the Disciples who did it.”

“I can tip them off.”

“Too risky,” Mackenzie said quickly. They were all in the apartment, sitting in one of the booths by the window and poring over a series of sketches and lists Bianca had set out. They’d had to sneak Mackenzie in an hour ago, under the cover that one of them was seriously sick and needed medical attention.

“Also, the Operators are too fockin’ smart,” Cait pointed out. “We need to target the Pack instead.”

“Right.” Bianca rubbed her forehead with a fist, frowning down at the rice paper below her elbows in confusion. “So… let’s go through this again. Early morning – patrol groups will be returning to their parks. We wait just outside the wall of Safari Adventure so no one can see or hear…”

“And we kill,” Cait finished with a grin.

“It’ll probably be a group of about three or four raiders,” Mackenzie said, sighing. She had new bruises all over her face and shackle burns on her wrists, but talking about their revolution had certainly brightened her up. “The Pack only patrols the marketplace, so I’ll be seeing what time they leave. I can tell you on your wrist-radio when they’re coming, and you can get ready.”

“Perfect.” Bianca tapped the next section of their plan. “Once we’ve killed the Pack’s patrol, we leave… I don’t know, maybe a Disciples weapon? A gun, or a knife that can’t be mistaken as something from another gang. And then we get the hell out of there.”

Cait slapped her palm down on the table enthusiastically. “And we win!”

“No… not yet.” Bianca shot her a look. “Even if the Pack believe the Disciples have started a war, they’ll come to _me_ before doing anything.”

“You’re the Overboss,” Mackenzie agreed. “So you can give them the go-ahead to take revenge. It should start a gang war.”

Bianca smiled slightly. “Gage won’t like that very much.”

“He can fockin’ die too,” Cait muttered.

“I think we need to slow it down,” Bianca said thoughtfully, dragging her finger backwards slightly across the paper. “One gang a time. When the Pack come to me for permission to take revenge, I’ll get the Operators to work alongside them. The Disciples are crazy, but they won’t stand a chance against two gangs working together.”

“Good idea,” Mackenzie said. “But then… you’ll still have two gangs left in Nuka World. What then?”

“A change in tactics.” Bianca smiled and then scrunched the paper up. “Leave that to me – first, let’s get rid of the Disciples.”

“Sure,” Mackenzie said, stepping out from the booth and stretching. “By the way, a few of the other traders know what you’re planning, and we’re all on your side. If you need weapons, medicine, anything – let me know.”

“We will. Thank you,” Bianca said, dismissing her.

The woman left them, striding to the elevator, and Bianca turned back in time to see Cait sigh.

“What's the matter?”

“Everythin’s the matter with me,” Cait grumbled, green eyes flashing. “Just forget it.”

“No, seriously.” Bianca touched her foot under the table and reached across to take her hand. The woman just shook her head, strands of dark red hair falling over her forehead as she tipped her chin down.

“It just seems we’re goin’ to a lot of trouble,” she said simply. “This is the first time I’d really prefer not to fight.”

Bianca smiled. “I know. But I need you, Cait.”

“Huh.” Cait cocked an eyebrow. “And here I was startin' to think you were keepin' me around for me good looks.”

“Well, duh. That too.” Bianca grinned.

Cait finally squeezed her hand back, meeting her eyes. “I'll tell you what... you keep pointin', and I'll keep shootin'. It's a match made in heaven. After everythin' you've done for me, I'll be damned if I'm going to let anythin' happen to you.”

Bianca nodded slowly, detaching her hand. “I guess we’d better start getting ready, then.”

 ---

The sun was very low on the horizon. As flat as the grounds of Nuka World were, all they could really see in the distance was a faint blob of radioactive orange as the day broke and the night passed. The sky was a bruised purple this morning, thick with fuzzy grey clouds, and Cait and Bianca were sitting on the pavement of one of the roads that led towards Safari Adventure. They each had five grenades on them, swords, and their respective rifles. In fact, Cait was feeling quite good about what was going to happen. She didn’t feel vulnerable at all.

They were sitting in silence, mainly so that Bianca wouldn’t miss the message when Mackenzie managed to get through on the radio. They’d practiced last night with the frequency, making sure she didn’t send it to the wrong person, and it would definitely work at such a long range. It did seem a little late, however – Cait had thought the patrols normally returned right before the sun came up. The longer they sat on the pavement, listening, the more restless they got.

“I think we should hide,” Bianca said, checking the time on her pip boy. “Maybe something happened and she couldn’t get through – they might be coming now.”

Cait agreed, and they stood up and backed into the bushes, glancing around the great open area between all of the parks. Ideally, this fight would be as quiet as possible and no one would see them. To be sure, however, they were both wearing the rusty metal uniform that members of the Disciple gang normally wore. They’d taken it from inside Fizztop Mountain, where the gang had previously resided.

“This armor is itchy as fock,” Cait muttered, trying to scratch her eye under the metal headpiece.

“Don’t take it off.”

“Hey, I’m not that easy,” she said with a wink.

She couldn’t see Bianca’s eyes, but she could tell the woman was rolling them.

“Shit – you hear that?” Bianca said suddenly.

Cait strained, nodding when she heard several laughing voices and howls far in the distance. Almost at the same time, there was a loud crackle and Bianca clutched her arm as her radio clicked on.

“ _They’re coming! I’m sorry, boss – the radio wasn’t working, I couldn’t…se…mess…age…_ ”

“No problem,” Bianca said, speaking into the pip boy’s microphone. “We can hear them. Sit tight.”

Cait lifted her sword, at once glad that she was covered in metal and the Pack members often liked to bare a lot of skin.

She crouched down, whole body trembling with anticipation as she felt Bianca’s hand rest momentarily on her back. They bumped shoulders, and Cait said, “Bloodstained steel looks good on you, General.”

Bianca’s snort of nervous laughter filled Cait with confidence. “Gee, thanks.”

“No problem.”

The mostly male voices of the Pack’s midnight patrol were coming closer, and Cait could even hear the sound of their boots on the asphalt. She clenched the hilt of her sword even tighter, feeling as if she was paying some sort of respect to the ghoul who’d had it before her by using it in this fight. Protecting the good people and killing the bad – since when had she become a hero?

Finally, they could even hear the jeering words the raiders were saying, and Cait glanced sideways at Bianca as they sensed the small group coming nearer. There were five of them, more than Mackenzie had predicted, but all of them had their guard down.

Bianca made the first move.

“For Nisha!” she yelled, throwing herself out of the bush and at the nearest raider, taking him down with her blade through his stomach. Cait followed her lead, yelling similar battle cries as she took down the only woman in the group, slicing at her neck and hearing a resounding gurgle as blood spurted from the wound. The remaining Pack members yelled in shock and anger, raising their guns, but Bianca and Cait had already moved on, dodging the men and striking necks, arms and knees – all the weak points. 

The final man did manage to rattle out a single bullet that pinged off of Bianca’s armor, but his futile attempt to fight back only resulted in two blades thrusting through his chest. He crumpled to the ground, mouth wide and eyes bloodshot, and Bianca quickly whipped off her Disciple helmet and threw it on the ground next to him. She grabbed Cait’s free hand.

“Let’s _go_!” she shouted.

They began sprinting, already tearing off pieces of Disciple armor and tossing them into bushes as they fled the battle scene. One man had still been breathing, but he wouldn’t be alive for long. Already, they could hear cries of alarm from the entrance of Safari Adventure as raiders started heading over to figure out what was going on.

For some reason, Cait found herself laughing with glee, and gripped Bianca’s hand even tighter as they crossed a bridge onto the other side of the open area and continued their path towards Nuka Town. Bianca was laughing too, almost hysterically.

By the time they reached Nuka Town, the bodies of the Pack patrolmen would already have been taken to Mason, their leader. The anger would already be simmering. And only the were Disciples to blame.

 ---

“I can’t feel me legs,” Cait gasped, tearing off her bloody t-shirt so that she just stood half-naked in the middle of the apartment.

Bianca was stripping too, leaving the remainders of her Disciple armor on a couch. Cait was still flooded with euphoria, but she knew they’d only won a small battle. Whatever happened now… would need to go as planned.

“Breakfast?”

Cait turned and saw Bianca’s hazel eyes appraising her from the kitchen. She felt feeling flood in her chest as she realized she was still fascinated by this beautiful woman.

“I’m starvin’,” she replied.

Bianca smiled and began grabbing tins and boxes out of the fully-stocked cupboards. Cooking breakfast like any domesticated person would do – never mind the fact that they had just murdered a group of raiders and were about to start a war.

“Eggs?”

“Sure.” Cait climbed onto a stool, watching Bianca as she set a pan on the stove and began heating it up. She realized that Cait was silent as she began peeling open a box, frowning over at her. “You okay?”

Cait shrugged.

“If you’re tired, we could always find a bed.”

“You know me very well,” Cait said with a faint smile. “But… no. I think I’m just realizin’ there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

Bianca’s eyes softened, and she stopped whisking the eggs for a moment. “Just for the record, me too. Though… maybe not in the middle of a war.”

Cait smirked. “My two favourite things: love and war.”

“Sex and war.”

“No, love.” Cait cleared her throat, bracing herself for the words that always left a syrupy-sweet taste in her mouth. “I love you.”

Bianca stared at her for a long while and then looked down at the bowl of powdered eggs, almost as if in a dilemma. “I really think we’re incapable of finishing a meal.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Bianca set down the fork she’d been using to whisk the eggs, switched off the stove, and rounded the counter. Cait closed her eyes as the older woman wrapped her in one of those deliciously tight, overwhelming hugs, tucking her into her shoulder and burying both hands in her hair. In Bianca’s arms, she was safe and warm, and it felt as if endings didn’t exist; the world melted away and Cait grew heady with the familiar smell of Bianca’s hair and the sound of her heartbeat beneath her skin. It nearly felt as if when she was in Bianca’s arms, all her pain went away – mental and physical. A love like this was to be cherished for life. After years and years of pain and suffering, Cait had found her home.

 ---

“Boss, we have a problem – a big one.”

Bianca turned, raising an eyebrow. She’d been washing some of her clothes in the large pond below Fizztop Mountain, the water so scummy that her efforts were basically useless. As Gage struggled with words to say, she straightened up and flung the wet shirt down on the concrete.

“What is it?”

“This isn’t meant to sound like ‘I told you so’, but I think you left it too long, this decision with the Commonwealth,” Porter Gage said carefully. “A Pack patrol group was attacked this morning.”

Bianca’s eyes widened. “What? By who?”

“Now, it seems a little edgy to me, but Mason’s certain it was the Disciples. And he wants blood.”

“Is there any proof?” Bianca questioned.

Gage sighed. “A helmet that was left behind at the scene – though that seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Either way, a fight is gonna break out unless you do something about it. Mason’s already getting ranks ready.”

Bianca narrowed her eyes, glancing away from Gage and out over the pond. There were a few Raiders strolling around here – Operators and Disciples. All of the Pack were likely with Mason, preparing for revenge.

“What exactly do you expect me to do? Their respect for me only goes so far,” Bianca said.

“Honestly? You need to talk to him, boss. Mason’s a brute, but he knows what’s up.”

Bianca thought some more, beginning to pace, and Gage watched her with a genuinely nervous expression on his face.

“But if the Disciples made the first move and killed some of his people, he has every right to take revenge, doesn’t he? They started the war, not him. There’s nothing I can do.”

Gage began shaking his head. “Boss-”

She stopped pacing. “I want to speak to both Mason and Mags Black – tell them I’ll be waiting at Fizztop Grille.”

He looked like he wanted to protest even more, eyes flashing, but he quickly nodded his head. “I hope you know what you’re doin’, boss.”

 ---

Mags Black lit a cigarette, looking out over the view with a particularly bored expression on her face. William, her brother, was here too, but he was sitting on one of the couches and mostly ignoring the conversation. They’d been summarizing what had happened so far, Mason speaking so loudly and so angrily that even Cait looked taken aback.

The giant ginger-haired man was standing by the elevator, chest still heaving as he glared at Bianca. But he was considering her proposal and calming down, which was a good sign.

“So you’re looking to wreak a little havoc,” Mags said, puffing smoke as she talked in her low purring voice. “I can respect that.”

“Can you provide?” Mason suddenly asked her.

She glanced at him distastefully. “I think I can. If the Overboss so wishes…”

“They made the first move,” Bianca pointed out. “They broke one of the few rules that exist here. And it was too well-planned, something that could only have come from higher orders. Nisha needs to be punished.”

Mags Black nodded slowly, taking another drag of her cigarette. She surveyed the apartment, eyes lingering on the generously wide double bed and paintings. “Nice place you’ve got here, boss.”

“I’ve given _you_ quite a nice place. More than one, in fact,” Bianca reminded her sharply.

It was an obvious warning. Mags Black only looked amused. “True enough.”

“The Disciples have been causing trouble since day one,” Mason spat. “They’re the one gang that doesn’t deserve to be here. I say we go ahead.”

Bianca looked to Mags now, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, fine,” Mags said finally. “But I’m expecting your wild animals to be in the front line, Mason. I don’t want my people to die helping you.”

“No one will die,” Bianca said. “Or at least – many less will die, if you work together. Do you really think the Disciples would spare either of you? An Operators patrol could be next.”

Mags Black nodded her head sharply. “We’ll go in as soon as possible.” After glancing at Mason, she added, “Our alliance is still strong.”

“Good,” he said, almost as if he didn’t know how to say thank you.

Bianca cleared her throat. “I would join you in the fight, but-”

“But you’re just so incredibly important,” Mags Black retorted sarcastically. “Don’t worry, boss – this is our battle. You don’t need to get involved.”

“I appreciate that.”

Mags Black stepped into the elevator and Mason and her brother joined her. “We’ll report back once Nisha’s dead.”

Bianca felt tingly all over as she watched them leave, feeling Cait approaching from behind her. Arms slipped around her waist and she held them, feeling just barely anchored to reality. Was their plan really working?

“I should probably let Gage know what’s about to happen,” Bianca sighed.

“Let it happen first,” Cait suggested. “He’ll find out one way or another.”

“Then we should tell Mackenzie-”

“Just calm down, General. We’ve done everythin’ we could.” Cait turned her, hands on her hips as she examined her face. “Maybe you need a drink.”

“Please don’t get me drunk, Cait. Not now.”

Cait just smirked. “Whaddya say – grey goose martini?”

“Sorry… what?”

“Straight bourbon?”

“Better.”

She let Cait lead her over to the bar and sighed as she sat down, still with that tingly sensation under her skin. Mags and Mason were working together to kill Nisha and the Disciples. Their plan was about to be halfway done. But the second half still wasn’t fully formed yet.

Cait slid a glass in front of her and took a seat on the counter, grinning down at her. “You might be the most formidable person I’ve ever gone to bed with.”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Cait. You always know just what to say.”

“You’re crafty as fock, General. Just how did I ever get lucky enough to meet a gal like you?”

“I bought you, remember?”

“Jesus, you’re right.”

Bianca chuckled despite herself, taking a lengthy sip of the bourbon and closing her eyes as it slid down her throat. “Do you think it’ll work?”

“Already has, General.” Cait swung her legs and jumped off the counter. “Also, those bastards are outta their minds. I bet if we stayed up here fer a month or so and didn’t come down, they’d kill each other off anyway.”

Bianca shrugged.

“I can tell the future – trust me,” Cait said positively.

“I should take you to see Mama Murphy.”

“Mama who?”

Bianca chuckled. “When this is all over…” She took Cait’s hand. “I want to tell you everything, start to finish. From when I climbed out of that vault to when I stood on the top of Mass Fusion and watched the Institute go up in flames.”

“Better be a lot of action,” Cait said. “And sex.”

“Plenty of blood, but… I’m afraid there’s not much sex.”

Cait’s eyelashes fluttered as she grabbed the waistband of Bianca’s trousers and pulled slightly with her fingers. “How did you survive?”

“I had other things on my mind,” Bianca said, though right now she had only one thing on her mind. Cait drew closer, and Bianca released her hand to grasp her shoulder instead, angling her body so they were pressed together. “Is it a story you’d like to hear?”

“It might be.” Cait leaned in so close that their lips were just about touching. “I have a few stories, too.”

Bianca smiled, running her fingers through her hair. “I’m guessing there’s a lot of sex in yours.”

“Yep. You might be feelin’ a little jealous by the time I’m finished.”

“It’s easy to fix that.” Bianca nudged her lips with her own, just barely kissing her. Cait tensed like she normally did, clutching Bianca closer automatically. She was so warm and soft – nothing like how Nate had felt, with his scratchy beard and impenetrable muscles. It was just… different. In a good way. Bianca’s heart still ached for her husband, but it ached even more for Cait. And that was how it was supposed to be.

Everything was going to be all right.


	20. One More Tomorrow (Part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bianca and Cait prepare for the next stage of their plan and meet unexpected consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm so sorry for posting this so long after the last chapter. The story's almost finished now - everything's coming to a head, and we have about 2 left (or 3). I also reckon I should apologize in advance for the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter...

Bianca knew the plan had worked the moment she saw Gage storming into the apartment, stepping off the lift with an ugly expression on his face. He looked even bigger and more intimidating now that he was angry – purple-faced and bloodthirsty, like a real raider.

“What the fuck did you say to ‘em, boss?” he growled. “What the hell did you do?”

“You better watch your mouth, Gage,” Bianca replied sharply.

Gage caught himself and paused in his stride, glaring down at the floor for a second as he inhaled deeply. He still looked like he was five seconds away from exploding like a faulty fragmentation grenade.

“What’s happened?” Bianca asked carefully. “ _Explain_ before you begin accusing me of anything.”

“Nisha’s dead,” he said.

Bianca nodded slowly. She glanced back at Cait, who was sprawled on the bed with her back against the headboard. The Irish woman gazed blankly back at her, giving nothing away. It was nighttime now – drearily slow hours had passed, both of them waiting for news, but even Mackenzie had had nothing to tell them.

“They attacked,” Bianca muttered. “So the Disciples are… gone?”

“Yeah, they fuckin’ are,” Gage snapped.

“As planned. Everything’s fine now, Gage. You can go.”

“Go?” Gage looked as if he’d just been slapped in the face. “Why the hell would I go anywhere when I’ve suddenly got the impression you have no idea what you’re doing? This morning, we had three gangs. Now, we have two and a half. This is exactly what you’re supposed to have stopped from happening!”

“I made the decision I thought was necessary,” Bianca told him calmly.

“Bad fuckin’ deal,” Gage growled. “You’ve made a mistake, boss. You’re gonna pay for it somehow.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It might as well be. The leftover Disciples are being killed, imprisoned and tortured as we speak. Nisha’s body is being paraded around like an arcade prize. They were your _allies_ , and you got ‘em killed.” He was so frustrated that a vein had popped out on his forehead.

“They attacked a Pack patrol group. They started the battle – all I did was give Mason permission to end it.”

“You-”

“I’m done with this conversation,” Bianca said flatly. “You made me Overboss for a reason. As far as I’m aware, the Disciples were too savage and too out of order for what you and I have in mind – they would have caused trouble. As my title allows me to, I made a tactical decision.”

Gage was silent for the first time, just staring at Bianca with his one mud-brown eye, his mouth fixed into a rigid white line. His hand was hanging very close to the rifle at his belt; if he wanted to revolt, now was the time. Bianca watched him carefully, knowing that she wouldn’t survive from a bullet at such close range.

“I think I made a mistake,” he said softly.

“About what?”

Porter Gage considered her for a long time – a very long time. And then, finally, he lifted his hand away from his belt and lowered his eyes in a gesture of submission. “A decision has to be made, boss. It was a victory, sure, but Mason and Mags aren’t happy. Nisha was expecting them, and quite a few of their people were killed in the crossfire. If you don’t do something about it, they’ll turn on each other too and we’ll have nothing left.”

“Uh-huh.” Bianca turned away to the bar and grabbed a glass. “Do you want a drink, Gage?”

“I’m gonna take my leave,” he grumbled. “Just… deal with the Pack and the Operators.”

“Alright.”

Bianca and Cait both watched as Gage set his shoulders and returned to the elevator, glaring at them once before pressing the button and disappearing from view.

Bianca let out a breath that she hadn’t known she’d been holding. The Disciples were gone. Nisha, the faceless woman with a voice that grated like rusty steel on concrete was dead. Mags and Mason would likely come to blows sometime soon.

Another window had opened.

“Bianca? You alright?” Cait’s use of her real name dragged Bianca very suddenly out of her stupor, and she turned with a faint smile to look at the younger woman on her bed.

“Fine.”

“What now?”

“We wait until someone visits with the news Mags promised me.”

“After that?”

“ _I’m_ going to make a visit.”

“Really?” Cait was intrigued. She swung her legs off the bed and sauntered over with a slight smirk on her face. “What’ve you got planned, General?”

“Getting the Pack to face the Disciples was easy – both gangs act like herds of animals most of the time anyway. That’s why the Pack’s my next target.”

Cait looked nonplussed. “So… you’re goin’ to kick Mason’s arse? Is that it?”

“ _I’m_ not.”

Her eyes flickered as if she finally understood. “I dunno if mind tricks’ll work on the Operators,” she said slowly. “They’ll catch on.”

“They won’t if I’m careful,” Bianca replied confidently. “The Operators may be smart, but they’ve got a fatal flaw too: a desire for ambition and power. I can give them what they want, can’t I?”

Cait was unimpressed with this plan – Bianca could see as much in her scornful expression. The woman sighed and turned away, picking an empty picture frame off one of the tables and tracing the patterns dust had left on it, as if she needed something to do with her hands.

“That dickhead with an eyepatch is a problem,” she pointed out.

“Gage? Yeah, I know. But I don’t think we’ll have to deal with him until the Pack is gone.”

“What exactly are you goin’ to tell Mags Black to get her to kill the people she just sided with?” Cait demanded.

“If her gang owned Nuka World, they’d have all the parks, all the caps, all the resources. There would be no other raiders to fight over it all with – just them. If Mags Black doesn’t want _that_ , she doesn’t want anything.”

Cait shook her head. “She’s smarter than that.”

“Huh.”

“What?” Cait required.

“You got a crush on her, or what?” Bianca scoffed. “All you’ve said so far is that she’s strong, smart, doesn’t fall for tricks-”

“Anyone other than you would have a hard time turnin’ me on, General,” Cait objected. “I just know that she’s not like any of the raiders I’ve ever run across before.”

“Fine.” Bianca sighed. “Do you have a better plan, then?”

Cait walked over to the booth they’d sat in with Mackenzie only the day before, picking up a pencil and pulling one of the pieces of paper towards her, flipping it over to a blank side. Bianca strode over curiously, watching as Cait drew two big dots on the paper and then loads of little ones behind them. On another section of the paper, she drew two black crosses.

“What’s that supposed to be?” Bianca asked inquisitively.

“If yer fightin’ a big group of people, you don’t just attack all of them,” Cait told her. She pointed at the two crosses. “This is us. The big dots are Mags and Mason. The little ones are all the gang members.”

“So… what’s your point?”

Cait very purposefully drew two long arrows connecting the crosses to the big dots and then glanced up at Bianca. “Stop focusin’ on the gangs as a whole. We need to get at the leaders.”

“You honestly could’ve explained that without drawing a diagram,” Bianca deadpanned.

Cait set the pencil down, shooting her an irritated look. “Mason, Mags and Nisha at once would have gotten us killed,” she said. “But Mags and Mason? We could do that.”

Bianca thought for a long moment, a thousand different scenarios running through her mind. It was true – trying to get the Operators to turn on the Pack now was a bit too far-fetched. Mags had no reason to kill her allies, even if she wanted to.

Something clicked in her mind, and Bianca quickly grabbed her railway rifle and strode towards the elevator. “I’m gonna go get Gage.”

“Why?” Cait called after her.

“I need him to deliver a message for me.”

 ---

Cait wondered if it was possible for them to wake up one morning and find that the raiders were no longer their problem. It would be nice to sleep in and fool around for once. Maybe cook breakfast and eat it in bed, or go out and shoot stuff for fun. Someday soon, Cait’s dreams would come true. She was sure of it.

Now, she leaned against the wall with her arms folded as she watched Bianca rummage through all of their weapons and ammunition, the woman frowning and counting under her breath. Cait liked it when she was concentrated. There was nothing more enthralling than a Bianca who was focusing all of her energy and attention on one thing. Cait had been that thing a few times, but most often Bianca’s concentration was spent on fighting.

“General, we have no idea how this is gonna turn out. What’s the point of countin’ ammo?”

Bianca sighed and sat back, delivering Cait an annoyed glance. “You made me lose count.”

“Answer the question.”

“I like to be in control. Prepared. That’s why I’m counting ammo,” Bianca muttered. She wiped an arm over her forehead. “Mags and Mason weren’t made leaders for no reason. They’ll both be extremely skilled with weapons.”

“So?”

“ _So_ , I want to not die, Cait.”

Cait smirked. “Am I missin’ somethin’? Does countin’ ammo make you immortal?”

Another short sigh, and then Bianca stood and stretched her spine. “Stop being annoying.”

“I’m not.” Cait detached herself from the wall and walked back over to the bed, throwing herself down on the mattress. It bounced and creaked under her as she settled herself with her hands behind her head and studied the cracks in the ceiling.

Bianca was silent for a long moment, but then Cait heard her soft footsteps as she padded barefoot towards the bed and climbed onto the mattress as well. A hand moved around her middle and pulled her close, Bianca burying her face in her shoulder. Cait closed her eyes and relished the feel of it, of eyelashes fluttering against her skin, the shape of the woman’s lips pressed into her bicep, soft dark hair brushing against her neck.

“I’m just worried,” Bianca mumbled.

Cait reached up to stroke at her hair, opening her eyes again. “No shit, really?”

Bianca snorted. “You’re such a smartass.”

“Yeah.”

Another few moments of silence, and then Cait’s hand stilled and she shifted her head to look at the older woman. “We won’t die, Bianca.”

“No?”

“We’ve lasted pretty fockin’ long. And let’s not forget that you’re the hero of the Commonwealth. This is nothin’ compared to blowin’ up the Institute and freein’ all robot-people, right?”

“It’s a little different. This time, it’s just me and you.”

“That’s all we need.” Cait smiled. “You’re the Commonwealth superhero; I’m the esteemed cage fighter who knows raiders pretty fockin’ well. I lived with them in the Combat Zone, remember?”

Bianca didn’t answer, meeting her eyes instead. “How come you were so worried before and now you don’t give a shit what happens to us?”

“Cause we’re close to winnin’,” Cait grinned. “And I like to win.”

“Fair enough.”

There was a sudden loud vibrating hum, sending an instant chill buzzing across Cait’s skin – the sound of the elevator. She sat up quickly, and so did Bianca, both of them with their hands on their guns and their hearts in their throats. And then Bianca let out a deep sigh, closed her eyes, and said, “I guess this is it, Cait.”

Cait swallowed and glanced across to the kitchen, where they’d already prepared five glasses and a couple extra bottles of wine on the counter. In three of those filled glasses was distilled sting-wing venom, which had proved rather hard to find – luckily, Mackenzie had managed to get them some from one of the visiting traders from the Commonwealth. It was one of the deadliest poisons Cait knew of, and she’d never even tried to swallow any. How long would it take to kill? What would be the symptoms?

If these raiders were as stupid as the ones she knew, she’d have more confidence in the idea that they’d just drink the wine and die. But Mags for sure was not stupid. And Mason was paranoid. If they discovered Bianca’s true intentions in inviting them here, they would start a bloody battle.

Bianca was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt for this occasion, and had even encouraged Cait to change into something less blood-stained. As the other woman climbed to her feet and straightened herself out, Cait watched her curiously, eyeing the nervous hands and watery-looking eyes. They were both devoid of armor, their swords tucked away under the sheets of their bed, their shotguns placed under the counter in case of a heavy firefight. All they had with them were the 10 millimeter pistols Mackenzie had provided them with, tucked into their waistbands. Nothing else. Cait felt an absolute lack of security in this situation, and it didn’t help her feel much better about it.

She climbed to her feet too, sending Bianca a confident glance to prove there was nothing to be worried about. Like everything else they’d been through, they would get out of this alive. They would win Nuka World and keep it for themselves. The elevator began humming again as it travelled back up to their apartment, this time with baggage.

Mason, Mags, and her brother William, had made no effort to dress up. They were all still dressed in their usual sooty armor. Mason in particular had a nasty-looking cut across his face and blood still coating his fingers. Cait wondered if he had ever washed his hands in his life.

“Welcome,” Bianca said in a false attempt to be polite.

Mags was unimpressed. “You’re a fan of meetings all of a sudden, Overboss. Didn’t peg you as the type.”

She stepped off the elevator, rolling her shoulders as she looked around the apartment with a cold smile. She looked worn-out, and yet her steel-grey eyes were still full of the deadly wit that made Cait anxious. William Black appeared more or less untouched by the battle against the Disciples, his greasy hair smoothed back from his forehead, his eyes dull and bored. Just like their previous meeting, he immediately broke off from the group and made a beeline for the bar.

“We seem to have a lot to talk about is all,” Bianca said simply. “Actually, this was planned as more of a celebration.”

“A celebration?” Mason grunted irritably. He glanced over at the wine set out on the bar, eyes narrowing.

“The Disciples, the weak link, have been incapacitated. Is that not a cause to celebrate?” Bianca clarified.

“No,” was Mags’ instant reply. She approached Bianca in a rather confrontational manner, and Cait had to struggle not to step in front of her and block the woman off.

Bianca’s face was outwardly calm as Mags stopped right in front of her, but Cait could see from the tightening of her fists that she was becoming increasingly high-strung.

“I lost fourteen of my people,” Mags muttered.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Are you?” The cold smile was back, curling at the corners of the woman’s lips. She jerked her head towards the bar. “Is that why you want to celebrate?”

“Celebrate, mourn… whatever you’d prefer,” was Bianca’s cool reply.

Mags regarded her for several more seconds, and then lowered her chin. “Whatever I’d prefer,” she repeated.

“The Disciples are gone – you won the battle. Now, you and Mason have more of Nuka World to yourselves. More caps, more security, more-”

“You can stop there, Overboss,” Mason said suddenly. “The thing is, we don’t have more security.”

Bianca frowned. “What?”

Mason’s big square-jawed face was tensed into a predatory smile, and Cait noticed too late that his hand was hovering too close to his hip. She’d only taken one step before his rifle had been yanked fully out from under his coat and he’d fired off the first shot. Bianca’s leg went out from under her from the force of a bullet through her kneecap, and she uttered nothing more than a gasp as she hit the ground hard, the breath leaving her body.

Cait threw herself at Mason before he could turn the gun on her, yelling obscenities and slamming the rifle out of his hands. He was too much like a brick wall for her to take down, so instead they were stuck grappling, face to face, arm to arm. It took barely a second for him to overpower her, clenching both her fists in one hand and headbutting her brutally in the face, hard enough that she saw bursts of stars in her vision and felt her body go weak. He shoved her on the ground as well, still smirking, and picked up his rifle again. Cait’s vision blurred and her whole body tingled as she realized she was about to die.

Instead, she felt Mason’s hands on her shoulders, lifting her up and dragging her over towards the counter. She struggled feebly, but her body was still recovering from the immense pain coming from her broken nose.

“We would have liked to celebrate after the battle,” Mags was saying, somehow already at the bar. “But Gage delivered us some particularly intriguing news.”

Cait gasped as Mason shoved her onto one of the stools, the metal edge of the counter jutting into her spine. Bianca, still conscious, was dropped onto the stool next to her by William Black, who stooped to quickly wind duct tape around her wrists before doing the same to Cait.

“What news?” Bianca growled. Her leg was already soaked with blood, and Cait knew she wouldn’t be conscious for long.

“Let’s see…” Mags picked up one of the filled wine glasses, twisting the stem in her fingers. “Something about the Overboss attempting to stab the both of us in the back.”

She turned to Bianca, grey eyes cold. “The Disciples weren’t the problem, were they?”

Bianca’s eyes were already fluttering from the loss of blood, and she could only let out a slight growl of denial.

“I wonder what’s in these glasses,” Mags said coolly. She brought the glass of wine towards them and stooped to look into Bianca’s eyes. “Some sort of poison?”

Bianca remained tight-lipped, glaring at the blond woman. Cait, meanwhile, was still struggling to figure out what had happened. Mason’s grip on her shoulders was making her whole body ache, and she could feel blood from her broken nose dripping into her throat. Gage had turned on them?

Mags straightened up again, smiling as she glanced over at Cait. “Maybe your friend can tell me.”

Bianca’s eyes widened just as Mags abruptly darted forward and shoved the glass between Cait’s parted lips, forcing her mouth open as she clenched her jaw and refused to swallow. Cait hadn’t seen what glass she’d picked up, and she didn’t want that venom in her body. She struggled with all the strength she had left in her, but Mags forced her mouth shut once the wine was safely inside and then used two fingers to roughly jab at her throat. Cait shut her eyes tightly as her swallowing mechanism was triggered and the bitter liquid sunk down her throat in one gulp. She gasped at the taste, unsure whether that acidic feel was sting-wing venom or just the wine.

Bianca huffed, “Cait-”

“How long would this sort of poison take?” Mags wondered curiously. She set the mostly empty wine glass on the counter behind Cait’s head, examining her closely. “I’ve heard sting-wing venom affects the central nervous system first. It results in severe pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness… eventually paralysis.”

Cait had already felt nauseous enough, but now she could actually feel the bile rising to her throat at the prospect of dying in such a terrible way.

Mags grinned. “I wonder how I can make that happen to your friend here?”

The fury on Bianca’s face was evident as she attempted to leap off the stool, but William Black simply delivered a swift kick to her injured knee and she collapsed instead of hitting her mark. She let out a soft moan of agony and Cait had to struggle to blink away wetness in her eyes. She didn’t want to die like this. She certainly didn’t want Bianca to die like this. The frustration was bubbling up inside her like boiling water… or was that the venom?

“Five glasses,” Mags said, returning to the wine. “That means there must be two more with venom in them, right? Your little slave friend specified the amount she gave to you. Sadly, those were her last words.”

Bianca met Cait’s eyes, hers full of anger and desperation, but they both knew they were helpless. Gage found them out, gave them away, and Mags and Mason tracked down Mackenzie. Their whole plan had fallen through, and they were only the next to die.

Cait shrunk back as Mags came towards her with another glass, grinning as she did so. “Open up, girl. You look like you could take another drink.”

Mason held her down as yet another glass of lukewarm wine was shoved forcefully down her throat. Cait, to her absolute surprise and frustration, felt tears filling her eyes. She definitely didn’t want to die crying.

And then it hit her.

A deep, burning pain seeming to come from everywhere at once, concentrated in all of her muscles. She let out a groan despite herself, feeling her throat seize up. Mason let go of her body as it shuddered and spasmed against her will. Very dimly through her blurred vision, Cait saw herself falling to the floor – but she didn’t feel it. All she felt was the agony.

There was some faint laughter from the raiders and a yell of fear from Bianca, and then Cait couldn’t hear anything. It was just a rush beyond her eardrums – the same sort of rush she’d used to hear whenever she took psycho. But even the pain from that was nothing compared to this. Cait had never felt anything like this. And she knew, without question, that she was going to die.

 ---

3 YEARS PREVIOUSLY…

She could hear the bottlecaps jingling around in her bag. There were about a hundred left, and that was only because she’d done a quick job killing some assholes who were harassing a settler woman. Anything for free money nowadays, whether it be good or bad. She was wearing the same ragged clothes as she’d had for a year, ripped and bloodied from her days fighting and working, trying to earn her way out of slavery.

Now she was out, there was nothing else she could think about – nothing other than the little farm by the lake, with the rows of mutfruit and the metal shed she’d been locked in for days at a time. Cait was going home.

It had taken a while to find her way out of the city and return to the depths of the countryside where she’d used to live. The open expanse was something she’d had no experience of for five long years, so she found it hard to navigate. But every trader she passed seemed to know where it was, and each of them pointed her in the right direction.

She was getting close. She knew it.

Cait had no idea what she was going to do. Her instincts were driving her back home to her parents, but she had no idea what she would do to them when she finally got there. She was finally free of the slavers, but she knew she’d never be free of her parents – not unless she broke them the way they broke her. Not unless she cracked their bones, made them bleed, locked them in the sweltering shed for weeks until they perished. Until she had sufficiently punished them with all they had done to her.

Cait’s anger had only grown stronger with distance from her slavers. At night, she lay awake with her shotgun in her hands, finger resting against the trigger. During the day, she kept herself going with the sole thought of seeing the look on her parents’ faces as she made them fear her.

Made them… sorry. Cait wanted them to be sorry. She wanted them to get down on their knees and beg her for forgiveness, promise they’d spend the rest of their lives trying to make it up to her and be exactly like the parents she’d wanted from all the books and comics she used to read.

It was stupid.

Cait stopped all of a sudden, unable to believe her eyes as she found herself on the lip of a cliff, staring down at a large oval expanse of murky water. The lake. And, at the very end of it, a dilapidated house with a crumpled roof and fenced-in land.

Cait walked as if in a dream, rounding the cliff until she was standing in the valley that used to be her home, smelling rotten mirelurk and generator smoke. The sound of the rippling water reminded her of nights she used to spend sitting outside the house reading until the sun went down. Sometimes she’d hear her mother humming inside the house, and smell meat and fruit as dinner was made for two. Cait would get the scraps. Her daddy would be ploughing the field or harvesting mutfruit, back bent and hands at work. He’d hum sometimes, too, almost happily – some song he’d heard on the radio, perhaps. Cait had always thought it odd that two people who seemed to hate her and life so much could have such a love for music. They were miserable, and yet they were happy in their own way.

The house had become much more worn down in the five years since Cait had been gone. She stopped at the edge of the chicken-wire fence, hooking her fingers into it like she used to, reminiscing in the times she’d hide among the mutfruit leaves and pretend to play with her imaginary friends. They’d be characters from her comics, usually, and they always cared. They’d cook her big imaginary feasts and sing her to sleep and play every game she wanted to play.

Setting her jaw, Cait dropped her bag over the fence and then followed it, unslinging her shotgun from over her shoulders before cocking it in her hands. The memories only made her want to push harder and faster. She wanted to break her own father’s leg, slap her mother until she was blue in the face. She wanted them both to suffer.

Cait left her bag at the corner of the orchard and began striding through the rows of mutfruit, growing evermore angry with each step. She had two shells in the shotgun and sixteen more in her pockets. The sky was becoming bruised and dark overhead, signaling that night was about to fall. Cait didn’t care one bit.

She heard running water inside the house, saw a dim yellow light through the window, smelled cooking mirelurk meat. It all made her angrier and angrier.

And then she was running.

Cait ran until she reached the door of the house, and then she kicked it open with one booted foot, looming in the doorway like an avenging angel as a man and a woman twisted quickly in their chairs to stare at her in shock. They were old and withered and weak. They were her parents, but Cait had no idea who they were. Until this moment, Cait had had no idea what she wanted to do to them.

“I’m home,” she said softly.

And then she opened fire.


	21. The End of the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next are relatively short and sweet. I hope you enjoy the ending to one of the longest fan-fictions I have ever written AND finished. It's been a journey. I do feel there will be some questions left unanswered, but I also feel that you guys can imagine what the answers are. If I'm feeling good about it, I might post a bonus chapter depicting a peek into the future as well, just to end Cait and Bianca's relationship arc on a high note.  
> For now, all I'd like to say is thank you so much for your support; for all the reads, kudos and comments that you've given this story. And thank you for being patient with my work. You guys are the best xxx

The pain returned at an unbelievable and incapacitating level, and yet Cait could see something now in her mind’s eye: the twisted, lifeless bodies of her dead parents. And the rushing in her ears right after she’d killed them matched the roaring against her eardrums now.

Pain versus pain. Which was greater? The anger and self-hatred for killing her own parents or the foreign substance flooding her veins and destroying her from within? Numbness began to spread through her body, almost like an answer, and Cait knew this meant that paralysis was setting in. She had a short window of time to do something before she was practically dead.

Cait didn’t care about the numbness in her hands as she brought them to her face and began gnawing at the duct tape with her teeth. She didn’t care about the blood filling her mouth or her loss of vision and hearing. Cait had been through enough in her life to realize that none of the pain mattered. What mattered was that her last moments were spent doing something against all her survival instincts and every selfish lesson she had learned since she was a child – she needed to save another person. She needed to save Bianca.

She made a small tear in the duct tape, widened it, and then wriggled her hands out. Her face was pressed hard into the floor as she reached one hand into the waistband of her jeans and grasped for an object she couldn’t even feel.

Her vision was too blurry to see much more than shapes, and her mouth was filling with blood, but this didn’t stop her from bringing the pistol slowly towards her face and fumbling with the safety, fighting against the spasms in her forearms. All the shapes were huddled around Bianca now – a big hulking shape that Cait fleetingly thought must be Mason, and two smaller ones which were the Black siblings. Her mind was running away from her, and so was her control over her body.

Cait rolled onto her stomach with an audible _humph_ and several of the shapes moved suddenly, almost as if looking towards her. She pulled the trigger.

The sounds were lost in the roaring of her ears, and she couldn’t feel the gun jumping in her hands, so she just kept moving her finger and firing, aiming at the shapes and trying desperately not to shoot Bianca. This was all she could do now – this was her being like Grognak, a superhero. Doing one final good deed for someone she truly loved. Cait had never been a villain, but she’d never tried to be a hero either. Now was the only chance she had left.

Her arms spasmed wildly and she dropped the pistol, fingers seizing up. Cait desperately rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, wheezing and gasping for breath as her lungs began to cease their movement as well. Death by asphyxiation would be her way to go. Not even a bullet to the skull.

The pain returned, stronger than ever, and Cait let out an internal scream that seemed to reverberate inside her skull – a sound that only she could hear. And then, as the acidic venom sizzled further through her body, she felt herself go limp and her vision faded entirely to blackness.

She was suddenly in a state of calm within the darkness. Death was something she’d been told to despise, hate and fear, and yet now it brought her comfort. Cait didn’t fear it; she feared not knowing what it might do and where it might take her. Death caused no pain. It wasn’t greedy, rude or rough. It merely carried her through the darkness to rest, where she could lay far from the greed and hatred of the Commonwealth.

It was there, all alone, where she died.

 ---

Bianca’s eyes were closed as she leaned her head back against the wall of the small room, arms folded across her chest. She wasn’t asleep, but she felt like she might be close – visions and images were prancing at the edges of her mind.

She opened her eyes quickly, blinking in the half-light. Sleeping would only lead to nightmares. And nightmares would only lead to her getting dressed and bothering the doctor yet again. No… she needed to control herself. Bianca traced her fingers down her own bare arm, blinking as she imagined it was someone else’s touch – a pale, slender hand dusted with freckles. As she imagined the sly, lilting voice that would accompany it.

_Wake up, Cait._

The room seemed to flicker slightly like it was on a pixelated computer screen – Bianca looked around at the bare walls, pulling her knees into her chest. She was crying, she realized, and she had been crying for a while. The tears were staining her cheeks and the mattress. If only there had been a chance to be a hero herself. If not that, to at least have a funeral. But no one had known the woman more than her. No one.

_Cait? Wake up._

Another flicker, everything becoming faded for a second before it jumped back into full view. Bianca slid a hand through her hair, lips trembling, and tried not to think about it. Tried not to think about the voice, the touch, the smell…

_Cait – do you hear me?_

_“…wake up in the morning and I wonder_  
_Why everything’s the same as it was_  
_I can’t understand, no, I can’t understand_  
_How life goes on the way it does…”_

The music filled the empty room, flooding it with rich sound and vocals, but there wasn’t a radio to be seen. Bianca frowned all of a sudden, glancing around. Something had disturbed her, but she didn’t know what. Again, the walls seemed to flicker. Was anything real anymore? Had everything she known just fallen away?

_Baby. I need you to wake up for me._

The smell of lemons seemed to waft into the room, and Bianca simply frowned even further. She turned, standing from the mattress, and muttered, “For fock’s sake – can’t a gal mourn in peace?”

And then, just like that, the image shattered – the room literally fragmented itself into a million pieces, Bianca disappearing with it, and was replaced with a sensation of warmth and relaxation.

Cait swallowed, and was stunned by the actual physical sensation that came with it. She was surfacing from what must surely have been a dream. Or a nightmare. Some distant reality where Bianca had been mourning her death. Had she died? Cait wasn’t sure she remembered.

“Hey,” came the same voice from the dream. “You can hear me now, can’t you?”

Cait swallowed again, wondering if it was only her throat that worked. She wasn’t quite sure where the rest of her body was. But she knew she was somewhere warm and comfortable, and she knew someone was taking care of her. That was enough.

“Will you wake up if I bribe you with some psycho?”

 _Not funny_ , Cait thought. She’d gotten over psycho a long time ago – but how long ago was that exactly?

The voice was familiar enough now to bring Cait entirely back to consciousness, her senses opening up to her surroundings. She smelled soap and lemons, and she could hear one of her favourite songs playing on the radio:

_“…Why does my heart go on beating_  
_Why do these eyes of mine cry_  
_Don’t they know it’s the end of the world_  
_It ended when you said goodbye…”_

Cait was supremely glad when she found she could flutter her fingers and toes, and tried her eyelids next, hoping to see a beautiful face next to hers. Her vision was blurry at first, sort of like it was covered with a gel. A few blinks cleared that up.

“Good morning,” Bianca grinned, peering down at her.

“Fock the morning,” Cait rasped. Her voice sounded alien to her own ears, and she grimaced at the sound.

Bianca looked at her for a long time – long enough that Cait could examine her too, taking in the smooth, clean hair and the lack of bloody injuries and scars on her face. She looked worlds better than the last time…

“What the fock’s happened?” Cait snapped scratchily, suddenly wide awake. “What the-”

“You shot three raiders and then died,” Bianca told her matter-of-factly.

“Wha-”

“I injected you with about fifteen stimpacks and poured Nuka cola Quantum down your throat and basically gave you CPR until I almost suffocated myself.”

Cait was silent, shocked.

“You saved my ass, and I saved yours,” Bianca said softly. “Figured that’s still how our partnership works.”

“Partnership…”

“We’re back in the Commonwealth, by the way.”

Cait, despite being informed about all these things, had no idea what the hell was going on. She could dimly remember what had happened before she died, but none of it made much sense. All she knew was that seeing Bianca now was worth the total confusion. The other woman looked clean and whole and happy, and she radiated beauty like the sun radiated heat.

“I’ll give you more information when you’re less… weak,” Bianca said decidedly. “Doctor Sun said you might experience some amnesia.”

“I remember everythin’,” Cait muttered.

“Good.” Bianca’s eyes suddenly grew dark. “Wouldn’t want you to forget that you almost died saving me.”

Cait managed a slight smile. “Not how I thought I’d go out.”

“See, that’s why I brought you back.”

Without warning, Bianca suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Cait, enveloping her in a tender hug. Cait had barely enough energy in her to hug the woman back, so she instead dug her chin into her shoulder. The warmth and lean strength of Bianca’s body was a wonderful feeling after so long. Cait inhaled deeply, smiling at the scent of lemons. In fact, it wasn’t just Bianca who smelled like lemons, but the whole room. Cait was lying in a single bed on a wooden landing, the area lit with a naked light bulb hung from the ceiling. Was this… Bianca’s home?

“It’s a little bare right now,” Bianca said, pulling back and noticing where Cait’s attention was directed. “Never really thought about furnishing it. Figured I’d never stop doing mercenary work and traveling around the Commonwealth.”

Cait nodded slowly, still looking around. Apart from her bed and a dresser, it was pretty bare. Even the walls hadn’t been decorated.

“I feel like I’ve been sleepin’ for about a year,” Cait muttered.

Bianca cleared her throat. “About a month, actually.”

“ _What?_ ”

“Yeah. Doctor Sun figured your brain had been starved of oxygen for too long from the venom and you wouldn’t wake up at all. We were pumping drugs into you for a while until you finally proved him wrong.”

Cait’s eyebrows pulled into an angry frown. “I shot that bitch, didn’t I?”

Bianca smiled softly. “I figure you’re talking about Mags. Yes, you did. Right in the face. Mason took about three in the chest and William got one in the neck. You really are a better shot when you’re dying, you know.”

Cait scoffed and then concentrated on the patterned blankets tucked around her waist. “There’s still a… huge gap, General. What the hell happened after I saved yer life? What about Gage and the rest of the raiders in Nuka World?”

“After Mags had Mackenzie killed, all of the slaves and traders began a revolt,” Bianca explained. “It was happening while we were with the gang leaders. They attacked the raiders and killed most of them. Gage was among the dead bodies, as far as I’m aware, but I don’t really know for sure. We were taken out of there while the battle was still going on – some of the revolters escorted us to the train station and sent us back to the Commonwealth.”

Cait tried to imagine the carnage and destruction that she’d missed and let out an irritable huff. “So Nuka World… it’s free now?”

“As soon as I brought you to Diamond City and I was sure you were going to live, I sent some of the Minutemen over there to sort the place out. It seems I’ve officially discovered a new settlement.” Bianca grinned. “Preston’s out of his mind with excitement.”

Cait grumbled, “So now all your country idiots are gonna steal our caps and parks?”

“Everything in Nuka World belongs to me if I want it,” Bianca said. “And to you too.”

Cait blinked at her. “Sounds like commitment, General.”

“Have I not proved that to you already?” Bianca joked. And then, to Cait’s surprise, she abruptly climbed to her feet. “I’m guessing you’re hungry. I’ll make you something and we can talk more after. Sound good?”

Cait wriggled her toes experimentally. “Might need yer help gettin’ out of bed.”


	22. Dear Hearts and Gentle People

Apparently, Bianca had been with Cait every day while she was in the coma, with Doctor Sun visiting time and time again to check her vitals and deliver drugs. It was Bianca who gave her bed baths and exercised her muscles to make sure they didn’t wither away. It was also Bianca who tried speaking to her and playing music for her every night, hoping that she might get through.

The pure effort was almost enough to make Cait feel emotional. As usual, Bianca’s love for her was an astounding, impossible thing.

Apart from the Minutemen securing Nuka World and rendering it safe for settlers and traders alike, several other things had happened while Cait was stuck in eternal sleep. It seemed that news about Nuka World and the extermination of the raiders had even reached Diamond City radio – among the many crazy stories was one that involved Cait and Bianca infiltrating the raider gangs as part of a Railroad mission and assassinating the leaders (who happened to secretly be ex-members of the Institute). Either way, the two of them had been depicted as heroes and founders of the newest and largest settlement discovered in over a hundred years.

Piper Wright, a reporter whose name was familiar to Cait, had written several newspapers on the matter, and had been on Bianca’s ass about getting Cait in for an interview if she ever woke up. Cait wasn’t sure she would like the attention much, especially since she was used to it being so negative.

It had been two days since she awoke from her month-long slumber, and Cait was sitting on a couch in Bianca’s Diamond City homestead, feet tucked under her while she absent-mindedly worked her way through a box of Sugar Bombs. Bianca had left an hour ago to “run some errands”, so she’d found herself alone. Luckily, there was plenty to do. Bianca had worked on filling the house with bookshelves, a rack of magazines and comics, a fully-functioning radio and television, and even a dart board. Cait had also grown obsessed just with the idea of being clean – she’d already had two baths today, but couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d missed a spot of blood or dirt. Living in Nuka World had been rough, rougher even perhaps than living in the Commonwealth. Cait was glad she didn’t have to deal with raiders anymore. Or giant bloodworms, or cave crickets, or glowing mirelurks, or rigged-up Nuka cola machines…

She was safe. And she was alive.

“Again?” came Bianca’s voice from the doorway.

Cait looked over, dragged from her thoughts, and grinned as she saw Bianca examining the dart board. Cait had grown tired of darts earlier and started using a pistol instead, more or less tearing the target to shreds.

Bianca dropped her bag on the floor and walked over to where Cait sat on the couch. The Irish woman simply raised an eyebrow. “Am I in trouble, General?”

Bianca only smiled and grabbed the box of cereal from her, setting it aside. “Aren’t you always?”

Cait sighed as the other woman climbed onto the couch next to her and wrapped her long arms around her. She felt a soft kiss pressed into her jawline before Bianca murmured, “You smell good.”

“That a surprise?” Cait scoffed.

Bianca pulled back, narrowing her eyes. “No one smells great when they’re covered in dirt and blood, Cait.”

“I do.”

“Sure,” Bianca said agreeably. “But only because I love you.”

“You really like flingin’ that around, don’t you?” Cait said, a little uneasily.

Bianca sighed, letting go of her and sitting back on the couch with a slight frown. “Give me a break. You just woke up from a month-long coma after nearly dying… and I’m not allowed to tell you I love you?”

Cait considered that for a long moment. “Fine.”

“You not gonna say you love me too?” Bianca teased, a glint in her eyes.

Cait frowned at her in mock confusion. “Sorry… who are you again?”

Bianca punched her lightly on the shoulder and then drew away, shaking her head. “Not funny.”

“I do love you,” Cait said. “In fact, even better – I would like to make love to you.”

Bianca chuckled, untying her laces and yanking her boots off. “There she is.”

“I’m serious.” Cait reached for the back of Bianca’s jeans and tugged lightly on the denim. “It’s been two long damn days-”

“You were recovering,” Bianca interrupted.

“I’m fine now. Recovered.” Cait jumped to her feet. “See? I can walk on me own and everythin’.”

“Impressive,” Bianca said sarcastically.

Cait frowned at her. “Fine, guess I’ll take another cold bath instead.”

“If I give you what you want, you have to give me something too.”

Cait smirked at her. “Now we’re talkin’. What do you need, General?”

“Sit?” Bianca patted the couch beside her, those intense hazel eyes imploring her to just do what she was told. Cait abided, sitting back down and letting the other woman take her hands, intertwining their fingers. “I want to ask you something. And no joking around, please.”

Cait was uncomfortable with the sudden shift in energy. Suddenly, Bianca was dead serious, and she wondered if she'd done something wrong. Clearing her throat, she muttered, “Okay…”

To her surprise, the dark-haired woman leaned in to deliver a soft kiss, as if to calm her nerves, before she reached a hand into her pocket and came out with something small and shiny.

A ring.

Cait just stared at it, frozen and unsure of what to do or even think. She already knew that it was the ring Bianca’s husband had worn before he died, matching the one that Bianca herself wore. A silver band that symbolized love, friendship, commitment, trust… so many things Cait had never been able to find in another human being.

Bianca gazed deep into her eyes, seeming calm and composed as she offered the silver ring towards Cait. “I know you didn't really get the whole marriage thing before, but... I thought I'd see if I could change your mind."

Cait felt a hot blush staining her cheeks, something she absolutely couldn't control. And a coiling sensation deep in her gut, twisting and twisting as she clenched her fists tighter in her lap.

"Will you please marry me, Cait?” Bianca asked softly.

Cait opened her mouth and then closed it, flustered beyond recognition. She already knew how much the ring meant to Bianca – she already knew the connotations that came with it. This wasn’t just Bianca giving her a piece of her heart, but it was a piece of her husband’s heart as well. It was the most meaningful gift the other woman could possibly give her. Bianca loved her so much that she was willing to move on from the biggest loss she had ever experienced besides her son.

“I-I…” Cait stuttered.

Bianca rolled her eyes in exasperation. “It’s a yes or no question, Cait.”

“Y-yes.”

The hazel eyes widened imperceptibly, almost as if Bianca had expected her to decline. “ _Yes?_ ” she repeated.

“Yes,” Cait said again, this time louder.

“ _Yes?"_ Bianca questioned her a second time, rising with a grin and cupping Cait’s face with one warm hand.

“Yes, for fock’s sake!” Cait snapped.

Bianca captured her mouth in a hard, fast kiss, lips still smiling when she pulled away. Her hand didn’t leave Cait’s face, instead framing her chin. “Are you sure?”

“You said it was a fockin’ yes or no question,” Cait grumbled, though she was smiling too. “Why’re you tryin’ to complicate things?”

Bianca's face softened, eyes searching Cait's face. “I love you.”

“I’d hope so, since you just asked me to marry you.”

Bianca seemed to let her sarcasm slide for now, still grinning so widely Cait thought her face would split in half. “You have no idea…”

“How happy you are?” Cait finished for her. “Yeah, I do. I’m pretty happy too.”

Bianca leaned in and kissed her again, this time more tenderly, her lips soft and yielding. She took a while to pull away, and when she did she reached for Cait’s left hand and slipped the ring onto her fourth finger. It was too big, but that was to be expected. The love Cait felt for Bianca felt too big for her body, and so did the happiness. It expanded beyond her heart and mind.

And then Bianca reached for the button of her jeans. Cait jumped, surprised by the shift in tension. “What-”

“Just keeping up my end of the deal,” Bianca grinned, eyes appraising Cait’s bare legs as she yanked her jeans off and tossed them aside, placing both hands on her hips to yank her onto her lap. Cait felt the breath leave her lungs all of a sudden as she automatically wrapped her arms around Bianca's neck, their faces inches apart. The passion she had for this woman was still as strong as it had been the first time they made love, and she had a feeling it may never leave.

Bianca's voice was low and husky when she next spoke, sending pleasurable vibrations throughout Cait's body: “I’ve been waiting a month to do this, so bear with me.”

As Bianca removed her shirt as well, Cait surrendered to the rich warmth and feeling that came with contact from the woman she loved. There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn’t know how to put it into words, so she let her body do the talking. Cait arched towards her as Bianca brought their bodies hard together, teeth biting down on her neck, breaths muffling in her skin. She wound her fingers in the other woman's hair, pleased at how long it had gotten and also the sounds Bianca made when she pulled on it tightly. She felt hands pressing into the small of her back, and then her stomach, teasingly moving towards where she needed them the most.

Cait dug her nails into Bianca’s spine and brought their mouths together, hoping to channel all her passion and energy into a kiss. They were both moving, and gasping, making sounds that Cait found incredibly tantalizing. Cait groaned as she wrapped a leg tightly around Bianca’s hips, breaking the kiss so she could kiss her neck instead. The peak was so close now, and they both felt it approaching. They were moving by instinct, with a raw and purposeful energy. Cait shut her eyes tightly as she felt the first wave of orgasm, clutching the woman hard against her.

Bianca held Cait close long after they had both finished, one hand in her hair while the other stroked her back. They were forehead to forehead, eyes closed, legs tangled. Nothing could rip them apart, ever. And Cait knew nothing would. She thought her words so loudly that she hoped Bianca might even hear them in her mind:

_When I’m around you, I’m finally not alone – it’s like before you I was isolated, locked in that damned metal shed. You let me out. I spent my life looking for humanity in this fucked up world and then I found you._

“Thanks,” Cait said.

Bianca peered through half-closed eyelids at her. “Since when do you thank me after sex?”

“Not for the sex, though that was good too.” Cait tugged her even closer, smirking. “I mean… for existing. For bein’ here. For everythin’. And fer askin’ me to marry you.”

“No problem,” Bianca said curtly, grinning.

Cait rolled her eyes. “I’m bein’ serious, General.”

“I know you are.”

“I think,” Cait mused, “to kill us both, there would only ever need to be one bullet.”

Bianca looked at her in horror. “That’s a morbid thought.”

“True, though. A coward couldn’t understand how I feel – only someone brave. I’d follow you to hell and back, you know.”

“I know. Me too.” Bianca was grinning again. “Aw, I love romantic Cait. She’s like a completely different person to the one I met the first time.”

“Fock off.” Cait shoved her, and then grabbed her and pulled her back when she almost fell off the couch. “Actually don’t,” she said more softly.

Bianca stroked her head and snuggled in again, closing her eyes. “Cait, you’re one hell of a woman, you know that?”

Cait didn’t answer; she only smiled at the irony of it. No one except Bianca would ever tell her that.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Bianca murmured. “You’ve got me forever and ever.”

“Good.”


	23. Epilogue

Bianca was feeling slightly sick as she entered the underground tunnels she’d thought she was for sure leaving behind several months ago. It smelled like damp stone and sewage down here – not to mention rotting ghoul corpses. But she’d made a promise to herself that she’d see this through, no matter what. If she could destroy the Institute and take back Nuka World, she could definitely do this.

The moment Bianca stepped through the door of the Railroad Headquarters and began traipsing down the steps, she was greeted by the familiar face of Drummer Boy. He was smiling in surprise. “It’s been a long time, Whisper.”

“I didn’t know if I’d ever find myself back here,” Bianca told him truthfully. “But… it feels good. I think.”

He nodded slowly, dark eyes appraising her. “We’ve been hearing all the stories about you on the radio,” he explained. “Guess I expected to see some new scars.”

Bianca laughed lightly. “Sorry to disappoint. Uh… any news since I’ve been gone?”

Drummer Boy cleared his throat. “Plenty. It  _has_ been a few months, after all. You know that vertibird from Red Glare?”

Bianca briefly recalled the Red Glare mission almost half a year ago, during which she’d snuck onto the Prydwen and placed explosive charges on its gas bags. The whole ship had burned down in flames before her very eyes, and she’d never quite forgotten the chilling feeling of having singlehandedly killed so many people.

When she didn’t reply, Drummer Boy continued, “Tinker Tom and some of the guys managed to fuel it up, so it’s pretty much ready for you. We’ve got eyes in the sky now.” He handed over a short red flare. “And some pretty impressive backup, too. You ever need help out there, send this up and Tom and the boys’ll come and get you.”

“Thanks,” Bianca said.

“No problem.” He scratched the back of his head. “Other than that, I don’t think there’s much else to update you on. A few problems flared up, but they were dealt with. I think Des has been waiting for you to come back so we can start making real plans.”

Bianca felt a little guilty upon hearing that. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long.”

“Hey, we all need time to ourselves. And you saved the lot of us.” He grinned. “And you’re back now, right?”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for work just yet,” Bianca said carefully. “I… kind of came back here for something else.”

“Huh?” Drummer Boy glanced back over his shoulder at the headquarters. It was late afternoon, so most of the Railroad agents were either out in the Commonwealth or sitting at their desks. The tomb was pretty empty, actually. Finally, understanding dawned on his face and he stepped aside. “Oh, I get it. Uh…the kid’s with P.A.M.,” he said. “You know where.”

“Thanks, Drummer Boy. See you around.”

Bianca passed him into the headquarters, nodding greetings at the people who noticed her – most had fought beside her when she took down the Institute; some were new recruits she’d never seen before, but they seemed to know about her from the stories on the radio. The big chalk board on the wall which contained the names of all safe houses and agents in the field was surprisingly full of new information – Desdemona had done plenty of hiring since Bianca had been gone. And they’d taken over some new safehouses, as well.

Bianca frowned when she paused by the board, seeing a new addition beside her own name: “MIA”. Missing in action? Had they really thought she’d just disappeared?

When she glanced to the right, she saw a few new contraptions piled up on Tinker Tom’s desk, and shook her head with a small smile. The Railroad’s resident genius would probably never stop being paranoid that the Commonwealth was out to get him – she reckoned each new contraption symbolized a new fear. He wasn’t around, which was odd, but perhaps Desdemona had needed him for something important.

Bianca turned from the board and headed hesitantly towards the room out back, where she knew P.A.M. usually operated, filing mission data and vital information into the Railroad’s database all day every day. It had been a while since she’d seen the robot, but she hadn’t exactly missed her. P.A.M. was an old military assaultron, and looked about as dangerous as she was. Luckily, she was on the Railroad’s side.

As she approached the doorway, she could already hear the monotonous droning voice listing off numbers and codewords. Bianca peered through the doorway into the vaguely-lit room, an ice-cold feeling clenching around her heart as she saw the picture before her.

P.A.M. was standing by the terminal, one clawed hand holding a ledger open while she read out its contents. Sitting at the terminal, one leg tucked under him, was a young boy of about ten years old. He was typing away at an incredible speed, seemingly bouncing in his seat.

Bianca’s chest tightened up, and she felt her mouth go dry. If Cait were here with her, she’d probably roll her eyes and tell her to get on with it. But Bianca had said this was something she needed to do on her own.

Gingerly, Bianca stepped into the room, hands held tightly at her sides as she cleared her throat. The boy didn’t turn around, but P.A.M. broke in her reading of numbers to say, “ _All processes are busy_.”

“I… didn’t mean to interrupt,” Bianca said cautiously. “I’m here to see my son.”

The typing stopped suddenly, and the boy whipped around to stare at her. Just the sight of his face made Bianca tremble from head to toe. Those almond-shaped hazel eyes, just like her own; the wide cheekbones from his dad; the arched eyebrows and freckles on his face. And yet… he wasn’t the boy she gave birth to before the war. He was S9-23, a synth. Designed by Doctor Madison Li, deep in the underground world of the Institute.

The boy smiled wide and exclaimed, “ _Mom!_ ”

He leaped from his seat and jogged over, crashing into Bianca before she even had time to react, wrapping his little arms around her waist. Very gingerly, she touched his back, patting his head. He felt warm and real, not at all like a robot.

Bianca had been through enough with the Railroad to realize that synths were very similar to normal people – they could bleed the same, feel the same, think the same… they just weren’t the same. And this lack of sameness was all that mattered when it was her son she was holding in her arms. There was no denying that, as a mother, she could sense what was real or not.

“I was so worried,” Shaun said, his voice muffled. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

He was so happy to see her that Bianca felt her wretchedness increase even further. For months, he had been living here with these strangers, when the only person he’d been programmed to recognize was her. Shaun – the real Shaun – had built him to be everything like her real son. This synth was essentially all that was left of him.

 _I’m so sorry I abandoned you_.

Shaun pulled away, grinning up at her with his cheerful little face. “Is it true? Did you kill all those raiders in Nuka World?”

Bianca could hardly string the words together to speak. “It’s… a long story, Shaun,” she managed.

“That’s okay,” he replied. “As long as you’ll tell me someday. You’re-you’re not gonna leave me again, right?”

Bianca felt the deep sadness ebbing within her as she crouched down to his level, taking his arms. She met his eyes, smiling softly. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I’m here for you. I’m taking you home.”

“Okay!” Shaun grinned. Then his eyebrows suddenly went up and he pulled himself away from her to jog over to the computer terminal again. He was scrabbling around the desk, searching for something. Finally, P.A.M. held an object up for him to see. “ _Shaun. Message from Father._ ”

“That’s it!” he said triumphantly. “Thanks, P.A.M.”

He jogged back over to Bianca with the holotape, suddenly a little shy as he held it out to her. “Father, uh, told me to give this to you. I didn’t listen to it, so I don’t know what it says, but I think it’s important.”

Bianca stared at it for several beats before taking it gingerly into her hands. A final message from her real son, the old man who she had left behind in the Institute rubble. She wondered, momentarily, what it would say. And then she slipped it into her pocket, returning her attention to the young boy in front of her. He still looked a little uncertain. “Are we really going home now, Mom?”

“We are,” Bianca told him. “You wouldn’t remember – of course you wouldn’t – but I fixed up our house in Sanctuary Hills. It’s where your father and I lived before the war.”

Shaun seemed lost for words. “That’s home?”

“It will be,” Bianca said determinedly.

His smile returned at full force, reminding her heart-wrenchingly of Nate’s smile and the way his cheeks used to dimple. That man was long gone, and so was the creator of the Institute. If this synth boy was all she had left of her life before all of this, she would protect him at all costs.

“Get your things,” Bianca told him softly. “It’s time I take you away from here.”

 ---

Cait jolted awake the moment she heard the door slam and some accompanying voices, sitting up in bed. She’d spent most of the night twisting the ring around her finger, worrying where Bianca might be. Was that her?

Hurriedly, Cait climbed out of bed and pulled on her jeans and a t-shirt, not bothering with armor or any weapons. Sanctuary Hills was the safest place she had ever lived, and she hadn’t had to bother about danger for a week now.

While Bianca had been gone, headed to reconcile with her son, Cait had spent her time cleaning up the place with Codsworth and a few of Bianca’s friendly neighbors. The neighborhood itself had already been rigged up with electricity, a safe water system and a large patch of farmland by the Minutemen. It was only the individual houses which hadn’t been re-furbished. When Cait and Bianca arrived here two weeks ago, they’d boarded up all the open gaps, replaced windows, fixed furniture, and dealt with the plumbing. Now, two weeks later, the house which Bianca had used to live in was one of the prettiest places Cait knew – Codsworth had even re-planted the garden and re-painted the walls. The robot butler had grown fond of cooking consistent meals, too, so every day Cait finished with her own daily chores, she came home to the smell of dinner. It was nice. But she told herself it would be nicer when Bianca came back.

In her free time, Cait would go down to the river to practice shooting things or to watch the water, but she had spent most of her time by the radio, waiting for a message from Bianca. None had arrived. Not that Cait expected anything to happen to her, but… it would be nice to hear her voice.

Cait knew she was acting clingy as hell, especially now that she and Bianca were closer than ever, but she couldn’t exactly bring herself to be embarrassed by it either. There was something about Bianca that made her feel comfortable in her own skin.

With her clothes yanked on and her eyes still blinking away sleep, Cait stumbled her way out of the master bedroom and down the corridor, squinting in the bright yellow light. Codsworth was already hovering by the door, declaring in a teary voice how much he had missed “Master Shaun”, and Cait grinned as she rounded the hallway and saw Bianca rolling her eyes.

And then Cait’s gaze fell to the little boy standing in the doorway, a bright smile on his face, and for a second she felt she was looking at a miniature version of Bianca. He had the same hazel eyes, freckles, hair – everything. And the same all-consuming smile that seemed even brighter than the naked lightbulb hanging above them.

Cait hadn’t known many children in her life, but somehow her actions came naturally to her; she walked over, delivered Shaun a brief grin, and said, “How’re you doin’, kid?”

Shaun’s eyes examined her critically, and his smile only grew wider. “You’re Cait,” he said simply.

Cait was taken aback. “Am I?”

Shaun laughed, a delightable sound, and then said, “Mom was telling me about you.” 

“Tellin’ you what about me?” Cait inquired, shooting Bianca a look. “Better have been somethin’ good.”

“She said you sometimes use funny words that start with ‘f’,” Shaun clarified. “And I should never repeat anything you say.”

Bianca’s smile was almost mischievous when Cait looked over at her with an annoyed frown.

“What? I had to prepare him somehow, didn’t I?”

“Well... in that case, it’s really fockin’ good to meet you,” Cait said to Shaun. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”

Bianca pressed her hand to the boy’s back and led him into the house, allowing Codsworth to shut the door. “You hungry? Tired?”

“Tired, I think,” Shaun said. “Where can I sleep?”

Cait gestured with her head towards the corridor. “Fixed up yer room with a proper bed and everythin’.”

“Cool!” With his hands clutched around an old, worn sack of his things, he bounded down the corridor with Codsworth close behind him, the robot butler rattling off all the new renovations and pieces of furniture that had been installed in the house.

Cait watched them go, still a little shaken and oddly warmed by the prospect of meeting Bianca’s son. “What  _did_  you tell him about me exactly?” she asked finally.

“That I love you very much and I’m going to marry you,” Bianca replied.

Cait smirked. “Not even that I’m a badass Irish gal who took down a bunch of raiders for you?”

Bianca’s eyebrow quirked up. “Did I forget that? Oh well…” She walked over and pressed both hands to her face, leaning in for a kiss. Cait melted into her as usual, all the tension leaving her muscles as she clutched at Bianca’s waist and smiled against her mouth.

When they pulled away from each other, they were both slightly breathless and hazy-eyed. But Cait had a feeling not much sex would be going on between them when there was a child in the next room.  _Damn it_.

“How are you?” Bianca asked softly.

“Sexually frustrated,” Cait deadpanned.

Bianca’s soft laugh was momentarily muffled by Cait’s lips as she leaned in for another kiss. “I’m fine,” she decided. “Now.”

“Me too,” Bianca said. “I missed you.”

“That’s nice.”

Bianca kissed her again, but this time bit down roughly on her lip, making Cait stiffen in surprise and jerk back. “Okay, okay – I missed you too!”

Bianca leaned in and ran her tongue across where she’d just bitten, fingers slipping into her hair. “Good,” she whispered huskily.

Cait groaned. “Okay – if you’re gonna turn me on, at least have the sense to do somethin’ about it.”

Bianca drew away, dropping her hands and smiling cheekily. “My bad.”

Cait’s cheeks heated. “Fockin’ tease.”

“Wanna take me to bed, then?”

Cait coughed uncertainly. “Don’t get me wrong – I know you like to get a little crazy sometimes, but… with yer kid in the next room? Little weird.”

Bianca blinked. “Oh yeah. Maybe.”

“Why does it sound like you think the opposite?” Cait asked curiously.

“I was thinking you’re pretty good at keeping quiet when you want to be,” Bianca said, smile growing wider. “And I am, too.”

Cait grabbed her around the waist again, pulling her close. “Sounds like a challenge.”

“Uh-huh.” Bianca leaned in for another kiss, and then seemed to change her mind. “Maybe when he’s asleep, though.”

It seemed Bianca was a little more bothered than she first thought. Cait laughed a little and then let the woman pull away. “Fair enough. I’ll… see you in bed.”

With one last flirtatious look at her fiancé, Cait spun and returned to the corridor, feeling Bianca’s eyes on her back the whole time.

 ---

“Shaun?”

A little head popped up from beneath the blankets, eyes a little groggy. “Mom?”

“Sorry… I thought you might still be awake,” Bianca apologized, leaning against the door frame.

“That’s okay,” Shaun said, sitting up. “Did you want to talk about something?”

“Sort of.” She entered the room, shutting the door behind her, and then walked over to sit on the edge of his bed. He watched her curiously.

Bianca held up the holotape he’d given her days ago so he could see the orange and white plastic glinting in the bedside light. “Would you mind listening to this with me? I… I feel like you deserve to hear all of what Father says.”

Shaun smiled sweetly. “I don’t think it was meant for me.”

“But I want you to hear it,” Bianca said firmly. “Do you mind?”

“No,” the boy said. He settled himself against the pillows as Bianca quickly slipped the holotape into her Pip-Boy and settled herself on the edge of the bed. There was a long rush of static, and then a click – the deep baritone of a voice she’d never thought she’d hear again came on:

“ _If you are hearing this, then whatever conflicts you and I endured are over. I have no reason to believe you’ll honor the request I’m about to make, but I feel compelled to try anyway.”_

In the silence of the room, it almost felt like he was there with them. Bianca kept her eyes locked on Shaun, watching his face.

“ _This synth, this… boy. He deserves more. He has been re-programmed to believe he is your son. It is my hope that you will take him with you. I would only ask that you give him a chance. A chance to be part of whatever future awaits the Commonwealth.”_

There was a resounding click, and Bianca reached to eject the holotape. Shaun’s face was pulled into a frown of confusion.

“I… I don’t understand,” he said softly. “I… he said I was re-programmed…”

“I don’t want you to be in the dark,” Bianca told him. “You deserve to know what you are. Father – he… he’s my son. He’s the baby they took from Vault 111. And he created you, Shaun, to be exactly like he was as a child.”

She’d expected tears, or denial, or  _something_ , but all the boy did was blink at her.

“I’m… a synth?”

“Yes.”

“So all of this…” he gestured to his body beneath the blankets. “It isn’t real?”

“You  _are_ real,” Bianca whispered. “Very real. That’s what makes this so hard.”

To her surprise, Shaun reached for her hand, very calmly squeezing it. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“No… you don’t have to be sorry,” Bianca said, feeling her throat tighten. “I should be. I left you with the Railroad for so long because I wasn’t sure if I could face the idea of you. But you  _are_  my son. And even though I missed so many years with the real Shaun, the fact I have you… that’s what counts. You’re the answer to all my prayers.”

“I am?” Shaun’s eyes widened.

“You’re my baby,” Bianca said, voice wavering. “Of course you are. And I promise I’ll only ever treat you as my son from now on. No matter what.”

Shaun’s smile was small. “I’m glad you came back for me.”

“Me too.” Bianca felt her eyes becoming wet with tears, and quickly pulled her hand away from Shaun’s. “Get some sleep, now. Alright? I’ll see you in the morning.”

He nodded. “Goodnight, Mom.”

“Night.” After a short hesitation, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead before drawing away.

As she was shutting the door to his room behind her, Bianca came face to face with Cait in the hallway – she realized the other woman had been listening to their conversation. Cait looked a little guilty, but otherwise sympathetic.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.” But her eyes were still watering, so she knew she didn’t sound particularly persuasive. “Just... sad.”

Cait took her arm and led her into the master bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind them. The house was completely silent now, and it felt like they were all alone. Bianca sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at her hands.

“You made a good decision,” Cait said. “Tellin’ him.”

“That he was a synth?” Bianca shrugged. “I don’t know… he didn’t react how I expected him to.”

“He reacted the way you would have.”

“What?”

Cait smiled. “He’s a lot like you, Bianca. In more ways than you can realize. Even I know that, and I just met him an hour ago.”

“Father did a good job on him, I guess.”

Cait didn’t speak, instead sitting on the bed beside her. She took her hand, interlacing their fingers, and gazed out of the window. There weren’t yet any suitable curtains, only a makeshift board to place over the glass. Cait hadn’t put it up yet.

Bianca felt exhausted. She was in her home, with the one woman she loved, and her son sleeping in the other room. Everything should feel perfect.

It almost did.

And yet something was wearing on her, filling her gut with a profound sense of uneasiness. How long until everything went wrong?

“I feel like it could all be ripped away from me,” she said softly. “Everything’s great now, but who knows when the next war will be? Who knows when raiders will next attack Sanctuary and kill everybody I love?”

Cait tilted her head thoughtfully. “Nobody knows – that’s the fockin’ point. That’s what makes life interestin’, remember?”

“You’re… still crazy,” Bianca said with a short laugh.

“Thanks.” Cait nudged her with her shoulder. “Seriously. There’s no point worryin’ about that stuff. If it happens, we’ll fight it and win like we have every other time. Me and you… we’ll get married, and we’ll fix up this place until it’s the most perfect house in the whole Commonwealth. And we’ll do little missions for yer Minutemen hicks and synth-lovers whenever we feel like we want some action. Kill raiders, super mutants – that sort of thing.”

“Sounds nice,” Bianca mused.

“And Shaun’ll live the best years of his life here, we’ll make sure of it. And then he can join us and start doin’ all that stuff too,” Cait continued, gaining confidence. “I’m sure he’ll be tough like you. I’ll teach him how to win a brawl, you can teach him how to shoot straight. When he’s experienced enough, I’ll show him how to handle his liquor and give him the drug talk so he doesn’t fock himself up like I did.”

Bianca couldn’t help smiling. “And then?”

“The Commonwealth’ll keep getting’ safer while we’re in it – but eventually we’ll get old and stop kicking arse and decide to settle down here. Our days will be filled with all that borin’ crap old couples do as well as the occasional fock now and again to keep us feelin’ young. Eventually we’ll die here together from old age, the first people in the Commonwealth to do so, ‘cause we’re too damn sharp to be taken down any other way.”

Bianca frowned. “There’s one thing missing from this future, Cait.”

The Irish woman sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead. “What’s that?”

“I want a dog. Like Dogmeat. I feel like I… owe it to him, somehow.”

“Fine.” Cait smirked. “It’ll be your weddin’ present. I’ll search far and wide.”

“Thanks, baby.”

Cait leaned in to kiss her. “So? Still feel worried? Scared?”

“I guess not,” Bianca grinned. “Weirdly, I think you’d make a great therapist, Cait.”

“A what?”

Bianca shook her head, gazing at the Irish woman. “Doesn’t matter. Want to go to sleep?”

“You know what I wanna do.” Cait grinned. “But yeah, let’s ‘sleep’, shall we?”

And then Cait was on her, almost devouring her with hungry, heated kisses, and Bianca chuckled against her mouth. She succumbed like she always did, even though she knew Shaun was just across the hall, clutching the woman close to her and vowing to make that bright future happen. She lost herself in the most beautiful thing the Commonwealth had offered her, feeling secure for the first time with the knowledge that their days would last.

Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t have to be the Lone Wanderer anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really needed to write this chapter - I wanted to expand on the ending and their future together. Alas, we have reached the finish for real this time. Cait and Bianca are happy together; they have Shaun, they have a home, and they will have a new Dogmeat. Most importantly, they have a future.  
> Considering this is the first fanfiction I have ever completed, I am delighted to let you guys know that I am very much inspired to write another (hopefully sometime soon). I've decided I might possibly make this a series of sorts, this being the Nuka World story and the next one being focused around Far Harbor.  
> So, without further ado, I briefly introduce you to the next story in the series: 
> 
> BLOOD TIDE  
>  _A new case from Valentine's Detective Agency leads an all new F!SS and infamous Diamond City reporter Piper Wright on a search for a missing young woman and a secret colony of synths. The mysterious fog-drenched shores of Far Harbor may hold all the answers, but the island is also home to dangers unseen and unheard of. And, as if that isn't enough, the stirrings of trouble which could possibly lead to war..._
> 
> Keep tuned, everyone! Thank you so so much for all your support with Open Season - I hope you enjoyed the story, because I certainly enjoyed writing it! Honestly, your comments and kudos give me life, so you are the BEST. _Blood Tide_ should be out at some point, and I do hope some of you might be interested in reading it, but if not, I will be glad to leave you with just this story. Until next time...
> 
> UPDATE: _Blood Tide_ is already out! If you're a fan of Piper, another badass female original character, or even just my writing style, please do check it out.


	24. BONUS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know I said this story was over, but since we've started a new year, I just wanted to post another short fluffy chapter to end it for real - yes, it _is_ for real this time. Maybe...  
>  Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this bonus chapter in which Cait and Bianca finally tie the knot!

Cait took a deep breath, anxious beyond belief. She wasn’t sure she was ready for this at all. Or ever would be…

A beautiful little reception had been set up on a field the settlers had cleared in Sanctuary, complete with flowers and essentially every piece of white fabric that could be found in the neighborhood. Most of Bianca’s Minutemen and Railroad buddies had been invited, and they were mingling with all the people Cait had come to recognize as her friends and neighbors: Mama Murphy, Jun and Marcy Long, Sturges still dressed in his overalls – he had been the one who had managed to hammer Cait’s ring into a smaller shape so it fit her finger. Her hand felt oddly bare without it now.

There was a buzz of excited chatter at the reception, everyone with a glass of wine at hand. Shaun was running between the tables with a girl – Piper Wright, the Diamond City reporter, had introduced her as Nat – and they both appeared to be chasing Teddy, the little brown-speckled puppy Cait had purchased from a trader. It was a good-natured game of tag, but Cait realized the puppy looked a little terrified.

“Stop bullyin’ the dog, kid,” Cait said sternly to Shaun, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder.

His hazel eyes landed on her, and he had the grace to look guilty. “Sorry!”

Nat elbowed him in the side, giggling, and then they went running off in the direction of the river, Teddy barking madly at their heels. Cait watched them go with a fond smile on her face.

“So, you’re the famous Cait,” a voice said beside her.

She turned in surprise, only to see very odd yellow eyes and a face that seemed partly worn away to display the mechanics underneath. Without an introduction, she already knew who he was.

“Hey, Valentine,” she said with a sly grin. “Damn – I think you've got somethin' on your face.” Her eyes widened in mock surprise. “Oh, it's skin. Yeah, you might want to get that looked at.”

“Very funny.” He was smiling, though. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Cait said flippantly.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, too.” Valentine’s yellow eyes appraised her. “I wanted to come over and say congratulations, although I should save that till after the wedding, shouldn’t I? You and Bianca… I’d never have guessed it, but you make the perfect match.”

“We sure do,” Cait agreed.

He smiled. “Well, good luck out there.”

“Why would I need luck?”

Valentine simply tipped his hat towards her knowingly, leaving her by herself again. Biting her lip, Cait glanced around, hoping for a glimpse of Bianca through the window of their house. She didn’t get this whole seeing the bride before the wedding thing – how the hell did that equal bad luck? Surely she was allowed to witness how hot her future wife looked getting dressed.

The priest from Diamond City’s chapel had been brought all the way out here to wed them, and he gestured at Cait now to take her place at the makeshift altar. Time for action. She sighed and began to walk over to him, wishing she’d succeeded in convincing Bianca to make their marriage a discreet event. The woman had wanted to go all out, apparently, and make the sliding of rings onto each other’s fingers the biggest spectacle of the Commonwealth. Go figure.

All around her, there was a scraping of chairs as everybody took their seats, most of them beaming at Cait as she passed. She wasn’t bothered enough to smile back.

Like she and Bianca had practiced, she took her place at the side of the altar, bouncing a little on her toes. _Jesus… why is this so goddamn nerve-wracking?_

Preston Garvey clicked the switch on the jukebox in the corner and it began to play classical music, an old bittersweet tune that had everyone smiling. Cait rolled her eyes. Could this get any cheesier? If she didn’t love Bianca so much, she’d be out of here in a heartbeat.

And then she saw her.

Cait had opted for one of those simple dresses that reached below the knee, and she was feeling especially uncomfortable in it. Bianca… Bianca was wearing the sexiest dress she had ever seen. It was all sparkly, and shiny, and –

Cait was going to enjoy taking that off later.

She felt her heart beating faster as Bianca drew nearer, Shaun holding her arm like a gentleman with his chin held high. Cait felt a grin growing on her face as she watched her fiancé walking down the aisle, feet treading over motheaten carpet like it was a heavenly cloud. Those beautiful eyes gazed right back, Bianca’s smile as bright as the sun if not brighter.

Again, there was the scraping of chairs as folks stood to watch her pass. All of Bianca’s and Cait’s friends couldn’t look any happier, which Cait only found odd for a moment. Why wouldn’t they be happy? Cait was aware that she and Bianca were the greatest couple in the Commonwealth.

As Shaun stepped to the side and Bianca arrived across from her, there were some cheers and whoops from their audience. Cait couldn’t stop smiling, even though she tried to stifle it. After a few moments, the priest mumbled something about starting the ceremony, and everybody sat down. Cait’s eyes were trained only on Bianca’s face, examining the features she loved so much, wanting to skip to the part where she could kiss her.

The priest began: “Dearly beloved, you have come together today so that in the presence of the community and a minister of the Church, your intention to enter into marriage may be strengthened by the Lord with a sacred seal…”

Cait had to struggle not to roll her eyes again. What the hell did all that even mean?

“Their decision to marry has not been entered into lightly and today they publicly declare their private devotion to each other,” the priest said, now addressing the audience. “The essence of this commitment is the acceptance of each other in entirety, as lover, companion, and friend. A good and balanced relationship is one in which neither person is overpowered nor absorbed by the other, one in which neither person is possessive of the other, one in which both give their love freely and without jealousy. Marriage, ideally, is a sharing of responsibilities, hopes, and dreams. It takes a special effort to grow together, survive hard times, and be loving and unselfish.”

That was more like it. Cait was a little in awe by his words, realizing that all of it applied to her relationship with Bianca. It was enough proof that she was here for a good reason. She didn’t believe in fate, but this sure felt like it had been meant to happen all along.

The priest closed the book he’d been holding and placed it on the altar, reaching for their hands. Both Cait and Bianca offered them up hesitantly, and Cait was pleased to see that Bianca was at least as nervous as she was. The priest, no longer reading from the book, relaxed his voice slightly. “Do you both pledge to share your lives openly with one another, and to speak the truth in love? Do you promise to honor and tenderly care for one another, cherish and encourage each other, stand together, through sorrows and joys, hardships and triumphs for all the days of your lives?”

Cait gazed at Bianca. “Uh… yes to all of that.”

“We do,” Bianca said, shooting her a mock-annoyed look.

“Do you pledge to share your love and the joys of your marriage with all those around you, so that they may learn from your love and be encouraged to grow in their own lives?”

 _Jesus, this is heavy stuff_ , Cait thought. Why did they have to make marriage sound like such a huge deal? Not that she minded when it came to marrying Bianca…

“We do,” Bianca said again.

Cait coughed. “Yeah… we do.”

The priest let go of their hands and then placed them against each other with a smile. “May these rings be blessed as a symbol of your union,” he said, gesturing to Shaun.

The little boy strode up to the altar with a proud smile, holding out the two rings on his palm. Bianca and Cait took their respective rings, turning back to one another. Bianca shot her a wink.

“As often as either of you look upon these rings, may you not only be reminded of this moment, but also of the vows you have made and the strength of your commitment to each other,” the priest continued. “Please say your vows.”

Bianca gave her another look, and Cait blinked in return. What was this part again? They’d practiced last night, but she couldn’t seriously be expected to remember every single thing…

Already feeling the pressure from the dozens of people watching, she stammered, “I… er, Cait, take you, Bianca, fer my wife.” She paused, realizing she’d forgotten the rest of the vow. “…Shite.”

There was a slight note of tension in the air, and the priest drew in a sharp breath. Bianca, to her surprise, only looked like she was trying not to laugh. With her cheeks growing warm, Cait turned to the audience and called, “Sorry!”

She gazed at Bianca, reflexively tightening her hold on her hand and taking a deep breath. “Basically, I really want to marry you, fer many reasons I simply can’t put in words, and… I want to be with you forever. I’ve never been so sure of anythin’ in me life.”

The words came out in a rush, but she was sure that Bianca had heard them all. She beamed, looking at Cait so adoringly that she felt she might melt into a puddle on the spot.

“Ditto.”

Cait slid the ring onto her fourth finger, and then – because she couldn’t help herself – held her hand up and kissed it. There was a murmur of amusement from the crowd, and Bianca laughed.

“Cait…” She tugged her hand a little, pulling her closer. All of a sudden, she was very somber, and Cait waited to be hit with a whole volley of adoration and heartache. “Honestly, I don’t want to say ‘till death do us part’ because I want to live a thousand lifetimes with you. I want to share everything with you, do everything with you, _be_ everything with you. You’ve changed my life so much that I feel like, without you, I hardly even exist.” She smiled solemnly. “I fucking love you.”

Cait grinned. “Ditto.” She slid the ring onto Bianca’s fourth finger, buzzing with an excited energy she could not describe. This beautiful woman in front of her was _hers_. Legally now, too.

“Go now in peace and live in love, sharing the most precious gifts you have, the gifts of your lives united. And may your days be long on this earth.” The priest smiled at them, gesturing towards the audience. “I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Bianca and Cait reached for each other in unison, joining in a kiss that burned with a hidden fire. Cait hugged her tightly, refusing to let go until Bianca herself broke away from the kiss and gazed up at her with a smile. Their audience was all standing now, clapping and cheering, and they linked their hands together, ring against ring. Cait felt like there was no one else in the world.

“Now it’s official,” Bianca said. “You’re stuck with me forever.”

“Oh, shit – really?” Cait asked in horror.

Her wife jabbed her in the shoulder. “Ass.”

Cait smirked and reached to kiss her again, hands sliding behind her neck and into her hair. “Forever sounds good,” she murmured when they pulled apart.

Bianca traced her cheek with a thumb, gazing into her eyes, and then nodded. “It does.”

Together, hand in hand, they stepped down from the altar and went to greet their friends and family, Shaun tagging along behind them.


End file.
